


Overspill

by erisunborn



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: AK! Uma, Abuse of Authority, Abusive Parents, Aged-Up Character(s), BAMF Uma (Disney), BAMF everyone tbh, Child Neglect, Developing Friendships, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, F/F, Gang Violence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Invasion of Privacy, M/M, Politics, Protective Audrey, Self-Harm, Strained Relationships, Swearing, Trust Issues, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24863377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erisunborn/pseuds/erisunborn
Summary: When Ben had proposed six VK's to come from the Isle, Uma would have never thought it would happen like this.
Relationships: Ben & Uma (Disney: Descendants), Ben/Audrey Rose (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Evie/Mal (Disney), Gil & Harry Hook, Harry Hook/Uma
Comments: 112
Kudos: 149





	1. Chapter One

Uma stares at Ben. "Today? Why didn't you tell me last week?" She stands from her place on the golden couch she had taken refuge on for Ben’s tailoring appointment.

Ben watches her as she walks to him, brows raising. "Because I knew you would freak out," Ben admits, "Uma, you're great at planning but you tend to go overboard when your mom's involved."

"For a good fucking reason," Ignoring the look she gets from her friend she begins to pace, throwing her braids over her shoulder. At Ben’s feet the tailor remains quiet, politely keeping his gaze downwards. "My mom can beat everyone in this kingdom when it comes to arguments. You need to prepare to fight her if you're going to bring these kids over."

Ben inclines his head in agreement. Ursula had a reputation as the Royal Advisor for her ability to win any argument. She had his parents constantly revising and amending their policies before they even reached the Council with her no bullshit attitude. In the few times he had invoked her attention on him, Ben had been outclassed before she had even needed to speak.

Uma had laughed for a month afterwards when she recalled the way her mother had glared at Ben until he faltered, then had individually ripped his argument to pieces with never breaking eye contact. It was almost enjoyable if it was so life threatening to begin with.

"I just need your support on it, Uma," he says, "If you support me then I'm sure I can get everyone to agree. You don't have to fight her, it's going to be under my responsibility as Crown Prince."

Uma narrows her eyes at him. "Crown Prat, maybe."

He laughs loudly at her jab, his smile easing the frown on his face. "I get it, I should have told you sooner."

"Yeah, Ben this is about taking Villain Kids and teaching them here in Auradon. You’re going to undo the twenty years of work your parents did with just this idea." Dropping into her seat on the couch she looks over him pointedly. He smiles at her, and for a second she’s not sure if she wants to laugh or scream as she sighs, throwing a hand into the air. "So what's the attack plan then?"

Ben grins.

It's a bullshit plan, just blurting out the plan before his parents can even begin to say their hello’s to the staff and their kids. It shouldn't work against three of the most powerful people in the kingdom but from the looks on their faces Uma can tell they're halfway to a 'yes'.

Jumping to her feet again, she stands next to her friend. She doesn’t even think about her words before she’s saying them, her voice clear despite the raging waves in her mind as she scrambles to keep up with herself. "I know you're initially against inviting the kids over but shouldn't we be trying to help them instead of condemning them on the actions of their parents? You have always taught me and Ben to see the best in everyone and we want to extend it to the Isle."

"It's ludicrous," her mom snaps. Her white hair is piled elegantly on top of her head, dressed in her black business pantsuit as usual. Next to the King and Queen she cuts an impressive figure, all sharp angels and arching eyebrows as she looks down on them. "Uma, this is not about being kind, or extending help. These people are criminals."

"And their children are innocent," Ben looks at his dad with a sharp gaze, "We'll start out with a few at first. Run them through a program and see if they can do it. If it doesn't work out then we can leave it."

"Oh really?"

The King starts, but Queen Belle composes herself, raising a hand to stop her husband's advancement, her petite figure almost dwarfed by Beast. Her eyebrows raise in challenge as she meets her husband's eyes, the sacharine softness in her smile hardening into something harsher. "I gave you another chance when I didn't have to. I don't see why we can't at least hear him out."

Uma looks at Ben with a smile. They had counted on his mom being on their side. For all the pretty picture Queen Belle had made herself out to be, she wasn’t known for being a Queen solely for her smile, her quick remarks and vicious unyielding morals made her a perfect contrast to King Beast.

One down two to go.

Ben tries again, "I've already picked them out. It's going to be the kids who need our help the most."

"And who is that?" Uma's mom asks.

"Cruella De Vil, Jafar, Evil Queen, Maleficent-"

"Maleficent?" King Beast shouts as he takes several steps towards his son. Uma watches the tailor get escorted out with a wave from the guards, the doors shutting behind him with a resounding click. "She's the worst of them all! They've done unspeakable things to people!"

"Their kids are innocent of that!" Ben snaps back, meeting his dad's anger with his own. "Don't they deserve a chance at a normal life? You can't pretend that there's only criminals over there anymore! There's kids and children there!"

"Ben, I'm afraid we can't do it," Ursula's calm voice breaks the staring contest between the pair as Ben looks towards her. She smiles, "Having such kids over is too much of a threat to our security. These kids have been trained to be dangerous to us."

"But you got a second chance," _Fuck_ , Uma thinks as her mom arches a perfect eyebrow at her, the surprise written clearly on her face, _I'm so fucking dead_ , but the words leave her mouth anyways. "Uncle Triton and Aunt Ariel didn't have to give you a second chance either. It took them months to ensure that you wouldn't end up on the Isle and now you're the Royal Advisor to Auradon and you're doing great."

"Darling-"

Uma waves her hand off, "No, don't “ _Darling_ ” me, this is a serious conversation. By the time you were going to be sent to the Isle you were a fully fledged sea witch. The kids on the Isle can't use magic, so you can gawk all you want about Maleficent's daughter being a part of the group but she won't know anything. All you're doing is making excuses to make your life easier and letting these kids suffer so you can be ignorant."

The adults stare at her outburst but Ben only takes it as a signal to go further. She feels a surge of pride as her mom straightens up, lips pressed tightly together as she listens to the Crown Prince. A sign of defeat if her mom had taught her anything at all. A silent Ursula meant she had lost the battle but not the war.

"Gaston and Hook too," He says, talking quickly, "I know you guys are going to be against it but if we invite other villainous kids here, the press will be publishing articles within the hour about how we don't care for the other kingdoms if we don’t bring them."

"And if we get them here and the program works, it will be a huge ticket for all of you." Uma pipes up, now standing beside her friend as he steps down from his dais, his hand landing on her shoulder. "And if it doesn't then we can always send them back and we’ll look good for trying to help our worst enemies. Either way it's a smart plan to get the public on Ben's side leading up to his coronation."

She glances at her mom cautiously, seeing her staring at the floor, her brows knitted together in thought. Queen Belle smiles briefly at her son as she turns to her husband, placing a small hand on his arm.

"It would be smart."

Uma holds back a cheer as her mom raises her head and looks at the two royals, her voice even and factual. From her spot beside Ben, Uma could see her mother quickly weighing the pros and cons. "It would be a good way to gauge whether we could handle something like this, and the press will be surrounding Ben in the coming months for his coronation so it's better to have them focusing on something else. If it doesn't work out we can send them back, but if it does then it will put Ben into the good graces of several diplomatic relations for a while. I don't doubt that the palace is already full of flak about this, and if it leaks that we didn't send out help to children in need then we will be on the receiving side."

King Beast sighs heavily halfway through Ursula's explanation, and Ben and Uma share a smile as he heads for the door. "Fine, we can try but I want the profiles of all these kids on the Isle by tomorrow."

"No problem!" Ben calls after him. Turning to Uma he pulls her into a hug, his smile almost painful to look at. "I told you the plan would work!"

"Hardly," Ursula argues, her Royal Advisor voice neatly back in place, "But you did make some clarifying points. About this Hook boy, why him?"

Ben blinks at the attention before he straightens again. "He's the only one who attends Serpent Prep out of that entire group, which will isolate him while he's here. He's a Captain of his own crew so he has influence on the Isle which will give us an estimate at how these kids operate. Maleficent's daughter has her own gang too, so we will be able to look at the difference between two leaders and how successful they both are. If Maleficent's daughter doesn't make it, that means Hook's pirate crew has a better chance over here than hers and we can save more children. It's basic leadership. The kids will follow their leaders."

Ursula's mouth tilts up in a ghost of a smile as she nods. "I don't see why I can't convince it to be in your favour. Your father will want some time but so far it seems like a decent way to start your rule, Prince Ben."

Three weeks later, Uma finds herself wishing she was anywhere but here. Since they had figured out the deal between their parents, both Ben and Uma had been stretched thin over meetings and planning sessions. The full heat of spring had hit overnight, and she can already feel herself second guessing their plan as they get ready to meet the VK’s for the first time.

Of course, words on a paper meant nothing on the Isle but Yen Sid had helped them gather information and prepare the children, though Ursula had been quick to point out Yen Sid had problems with both crews to begin with. They had taken every preparation needed to ensure this went smoothly which was first, making sure the press weren't on the grounds.

Several students stand around waiting for the VK's to show up, phones at the ready despite the unrelenting heat. Ben had nearly gotten the entire band to stand with them but Uma had argued him into selecting five kids instead. The moment the VK's stepped out of their limo was the moment the information would start, within half an hour, paps would be at the front gates trying to get inside. They didn’t need the entire school for that shit show.

"Nervous?" Audrey smiles at Uma, dressed in a beautiful blue skirt and white top, her dark hair pulled back to fall around her shoulders and away from her face.

"Yeah," Uma admits. She tugs up her fishnet sleeves to her elbows with a sigh, glad she wore shorts today. Despite her top being designed almost solely from back netting with a teal sports bra underneath she found herself warm in the sunlight. Her hair brushes her waist as she looks at her friend. "But probably not as much as Ben, it was his idea after all."

Audrey makes a face, "Yeah but last time I checked Ben didn't call his mom a villain. You got as much as him riding on this going good."

Uma gapes at her friend, "You heard that?"

"Who hasn't is the question," Ben looks down at her with a grimace, "The entire palace was talking about it. I tried to make them stop but it turns out no one fights your mom like you do. It really was impressive."

Uma leans across Audrey to smack the him on the arm of his finely tailor suit, no doubt sweating under all the layers. "I got a four hour lecture after we got home," she points out, "And last night she had me up until twelve practicing everything."

"I can agree with that," Audrey laughs, "My Gramma had me up at five today to pick out this dress and make sure everything was going to be perfect."

Their conversation dies down as a black limousine appears heading towards them. The tinted windows don't reveal anything as it stops in front of them and the driver steps out. Before he can walk around to get the door, it opens from the inside. She stares as the kids file out of the limo. It’s almost eerie how quiet they are, eyes flickering over their surroundings. Uma can almost hear them cataloging everything, as they fall into a haphazard line facing them.

The first pair are girls, though neither of them looks friendly to one another as two boys follow behind them. Neither of the girls bother to close the space between them, though the blue haired girl glances at her friend with a wide eyed look before she focuses on them. The questioning look in her eyes smooths out into a placid smile as she inclines her head, cerulean curls falling over her shoulders. Her outfit looks awfully warm for the heat warnings they got today, her navy blue leather jacket zipped over her dress to her chin, the wide almost capelike sleeves showing off the other set of full length sleeves underneath. A thick red rock hangs on a silver chain around her neck, matching the silver earrings and bracelets decorating her outfit.

She raises a jeweled glove, “Hello, I’m Evie. Evil Queen’s daughter.” Her eyes track over Ben like a wolf looking at prey before the look is gone and she smiles brightly. She seems incredibly pale compared to the rest of the group, though Uma chalks it up to the excessive make up she has on.

Uma suppresses the urge to whack her friend over the head as he stands there with a smile. She looks at him expectedly, “And this is...”

Stepping forward Ben clasps his hands together, a trait he inherited from his dad. “Hello, my name’s Ben, I-”

“Prince Benjamin,” Audrey interrupts, “Soon to be king, and my boyfriend.”

Something in Evie’s face lights up. Stepping forward she bows from her waist in a mimicry of a curtsey, and suddenly Uma can hear Queen Leah’s harsh criticism in her head. Looking at the blue haired girl Uma allows herself to feel surprised at the sight. Despite all the flaws, Evie somehow had the grace to pull it off and Uma can hardly hear her next words over the surprise ringing in her ears.

“You had me at ‘prince’.” She holds out her hand delicately, eyes locked onto Ben’s as she talks, her voice eerily soft. “My mother’s the Evil Queen, which makes me a Princess.”

Uma doesn’t even need to look at Audrey to know the face she makes at the obvious flirt as her voice pitches an octave higher. “The Evil Queen has no royal status here, and neither do you.” There goes the good streak.

“Oh please.” Evie stiffens at the harsh tone from the shorter girl beside her, hand snapping back to her side as she glances over her shoulder at her. “Evie, we’ve been here two minutes, there's a thousand princes.”

Malifecent matches her file almost perfectly, meeting Uma’s stare with an unimpressed look, bright green eyes boring into her. A violet and black dragon tattoo curls around her bicep matching her wine coloured curls. Her jacket gleams with zippers, dark purple jeans ripped to show the black detail underneath, her black gloves shine with metal studs as she brushes her hair from her face.

Everything about her screams ‘leader’ in a way that the other girl doesn’t.

Audrey keeps her smile as she leans over to Uma, "What is her problem?"

“How am I supposed to know,” Uma frowns. Audrey smells like flowers and sunsets, as if she had inherited her mom’s blessings for being perfect. “Play nice or my mom’s going to murder me.”

“Your mom’s going to murder you anyways.”

“And you must be Maleficent, then.” Fairy Godmother smiles.

Maleficent’s eyes flash with green as she looks at the Head Mistress. “Mal.”

Her smile tightens as Evie steps back beside Mal, eyes flickering to the shorter girl as if in question. “How about you boys, introduce yourselves.”

The shorter boy is covered in black and white patterns, jacket collar lined with a matching fur collar and red sleeves. He hastily wipes his hands on his black tshirt, plain red gloves covering them, a single black spiked bracelet on his right wrist, the white on his leather pants almost grey from wear. His white hair stands straight up, making his freckled face look younger as he fidgets with his belt, a metal dalmatian on the buckle.. Standing next to the rest he seems almost tiny in comparison as he shuffles in his place, not meeting any of their eyes. “Uh, I’m Carlos, Cruella De Vil’s son.”

Frowning at the Fairy Godmother the taller boy next to Carlos raises unimpressed eyebrows, clutching the tv to his chest. His dark brown hair is partially tied back from his face with a simple half up braid, his tanned skin screaming ‘Jafar’. His outfit isn’t as ripped and torn as the others, a loose orange tunic falling to his thighs one side hitched up into a belt. Red studded detail wraps around the collar and down his chest, a black vest left open overtop, matching jeans are patched with dark yellow material. Golden bracelets clink as he adjusts his grip on the tv, hands covered in plain black gloves. “Jay,” he says.

“Jafar’s son,” Ben shakes his hand.

Jay raises his brows, “You’re the King?”

“Not officially yet. I’m the Crown Prince right now.”

“Shit, that’s cool.”

Movement in the limo draws Uma’s attention as two more figures climb out. She’s almost surprised at the gasp Fairy Godmother let’s out doesn’t cause her to choke, as the next boy steps out, a large knife strapped onto his belt next to a sword. Compared to the others his clothes are almost comically plain but the lines of tattoo on his forearm evens it out. His messy blonde hair is tied back in a ponytail, and covered by a brown bandana, a leather necklace with a bull charm hanging around his neck. Brown bracelets cover his wrists, rings glinting in the sunlight as he grip the handle of his sword with fingerless yellow gloves. His jeans are fixed with plain leather, a brown vest lays open overtop a mesh looking orange top, a thick braided belt strapped across his chest.

He grins at them, and for a second Uma thinks the others had forgotten to tell him to be rude upon arrival, brow furrowing as she focuses on the golden hook embriodered onto his vest’s shoulder. An insignia? “Hi,” he says, “I’m Gil, Gaston’s my dad.” He looks at Ben with a grimace, looking at his boots as he scuffs them against the pavement, gripping his belt with his hands. “You’re Beast’s son right? I’m sorry about my dad.”

“Gil, we talked about this.” She feels her stomach drop at the sight of Hook’s son. His accent is almost impossible to understand as he shuts the door behind him.

Unlike the others, the chaos of his clothes fits him in a way the others don’t, the look of mischief on his face bringing the outfit together with a rougish sort of grace. He looks infinitely amused and annoyed at the same time as he looks them over, pale eyes narrowing at the sight of Uma.

Uma can hear her mom preparing for the lecture once they’re alone at the sight of the hook in his left hand. How can these two people think it was okay to bring weapons to a school? Was this normal for them to be openly weaponized?

A dark golden insignia of a hook is emblazoned on the shoulder of his black military jacket he has on, the braided hussar designs dirty and ripped from a lack of care. His coat brushes the back of his calves as he shifts, glove covered hands resting on the sword hanging off the belt going across the ripped white shirt he has underneath. Rings adorn both of his hands, black and red beaded bracelets cover his wrists almost entirely, though Uma feels her curiosity rise as she spies the old bandage wrapped aroung Harry’s left wrist, peeking out from under his bracelets. It didn’t look like it was covering a fresh injury going by how more bracelets seemed to cover his left wrist. A red sash is tied at his waist above an impressive amount of belts hanging off his hips, matching the red tartan patches that peek through the rips of his jeans.

“Well well well,” he drawls, “Looks like we got one hell of a welcome meetin’. Harry Hook.” He bows with a flourish, dark hair falling over his kohl lined eyes.

Clenching her hands she raises her chin, meeting his gaze. “I don’t see much.”

“Ah,” Harry’s eyes flash red as he straightens, his coat swishes against his legs as he faces Gil, his smile all teeth. “Ye ‘ear that, lad? I guess we’ll ‘ave to show ‘er, eh?”

The boys share a look as Harry turns back to her, his reply cut off as Fairy Godmother steps forward. "Let’s leave it where we found it,” she smiles thinly at Jay, “And by that I mean just leave it.”

Jay gives her a hard look before handing the television off the waiting driver. With a nod from Ben the driver gets back into the vehicle and leaves without a comment. They’re going to need to give that man a raise from having to drive these six around.

"Welcome to Auradon Prep," Fair Godmother smiles, "I'm Fairy Godmother, Head Mistress here."

"Like a principle?" Gil asks.

"Exactly. Now Harry, Gil, I'm sorry to have to say this but no weapons are allowed on school grounds. If you would please give up your sword and knives, I will let you all get on your way."

"Me sword?" Harry's laugh sends shivers down Uma's spine, the grating sound almost painful to listen to as he gestures around with his hook. "Yer no gettin' nothin', you told us we could bring whatever we wanted."

Fairy Godmother laughs with him, though her smile only widens at his explanation. "Yes, yes, but you will not be allowed any further unless you give them up. I can return them to you later on."

Gil looks at Harry questionly but Harry’s staring down the Headmistress. “She’ll give them back.”

“After she does somethin’ tae them.”

Fairy Godmother nods, clasping her hands together. “Yes, I will charm them to be blunt for everyone’s safety.”

“What about ours?”

Harry gestures across Gil to where the others stand. Mal looks at him with a smile, arms crossed over her chest as she waves her fingers at him, eyes glowing. Hearing Audrey’s breath catch for a moment, Uma knows she’s not the only one who feels the mistake. The idea of isolating Hook falls to pieces as the pirate flips Mal off, not so subtly putting himself in front of Gil.

“I can assure you that your safety is guaranteed here,” Fairy Godmother says, “We have guards stationed around the grounds to ensure this. So if you’ll just give them over, I’ll have them back to you tonight.”

The boys share a look as one of the guards approaches them. “Fine.” Reaching up to his chest he unbuckles his sword belt and wraps it around the scabbard with a huff. He pauses as he unwraps a pocket watch from the handle of his hook, ignoring the laugh it gets from Mal before placing it on top of the pile in the guards arms and shoving the watch in his pocket. “Give her your belt, Gil.”

“My belt?’

Harry gives him a pointed look. “Your belts. We canny ‘ave her jus’ carrin’ knives around can we?” Gil undoes the belt on his waist, handing them over to the waiting guard.

A part of Uma wants to punch Ben as he starts his speech at Fair Godmother’s exit, a guard trailing after her holding the weapons. Even to her it sounded different from his speeches and press talks he usually had with his parents. Beside him, Audrey practically radiates hatred as she stares down each VK with her signature bullshit press smile. If Queen Leah could be given appreciation, it was for teaching Audrey their family backbone.

Uma clicks back into the conversation as Mal laughs airly with the Princess.

Oh fuck.

If those two had a fight Uma can easily see the school burning down as collateral. Where Mal probably has the advantage of experience, Audrey isn’t Crown Princess to her own kingdom for no reason.

Seeing Audrey’s smile turn a little sharper, Uma jumps in. She smiles quickly as she steps beside Audrey, “You’re Maleficent's daughter right? Your tattoo gives you away.”

“Yeah,” Mal says, “That’s the point.”

"My mother's Aurora," Audrey laughs, "You know, Sleeping-"

"Beauty?" Mal's smile widens as she twirls a lock of hair around her finger. "Yeah, I've heard of her."

“How about we don’t fight out here,” Evie pipes in. She zeroes on Uma with a smile, “You never introduced yourself, I’m Evie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Something in Harry’s eyes makes her hesitate as she replies. It wasn’t hard to figure her out, if the fishnet top and seashell necklace didn't work, Uma doubts they missed the decoration of shells and silver integrated into her crown braid in a makeshift tiara. “Uma,” she hears herself say, “Ursula’s daughter.”

Harry’s grin gets wider as Evie gasps, “You’re Uma? I thought you stayed in Atlantica.”

“I do usually, but now I have to attend Auradon in support of this plan,” she explains, “My mom’s deals are sort of how she got out of the Isle in the first place.”

“Oh.” Evie nods along to her words, eyes dropping for a second before she seems to stand up even straighter. “Well, I hope everything goes wonderfully. For all of us.”

“I hope so too,” Uma laughs, “Otherwise my mom’s going to use me as shark bait.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> group chat saves the day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot until seven pm to post this but to be fair, its too fucking hot rn 
> 
> tag add on! warning: eating disorder (implied/referenced)

To her left Harry makes a noise that sounds like it should be a laugh but when she looks his face is turned away towards where they came in from. Something in Evie’s face flickers but it’s too fast for Uma to catch before Ben steps in again. He waves them towards the school, “We should get inside, there’s a lot to show you today.”

A noise from Jay draws their attention as he lunges for the garden. Uma recognizes the action in time to look away as he vomits into the roses. Audrey squeaks as she clamps a hand over her eyes.

Glancing through her braids Uma watches Jay wipe his mouth and cough. He still looks too pale to be moving but the other VK’s don’t say anything, though Evie has her eyes pointedly trained on one of the plaques describing the flowers.

He straightens, wiping his hands on his jeans and Uma bites back a gag at the sight. “Let’s get going.”

“Uh,” Ben frowns at the other boy, “Are you sure?”

Jay laughs, “I think that sweet stuff in the car was bad. You guys should watch what you put in there.” Uma shares a look with Ben as she watches Carlos pause midbite into a piece of chocolate, glancing at the older boy then to his own handful of treats with wide eyes.

“Is that the Beast?” Gil points to the bronze statue depicting Beast in his formal wear, raising a scepter in one hand as if in cheer, crown firmly on his head as he smiles.

“Yeah.”

At the clap of Ben’s hands the statue changes forms, becoming the burly hulking Beast that Queen Belle had described so many times. Uma makes a face at it. It wasn’t nice to look at anymore than a dead fish on the ocean floor. Casting a look at the Villian Kids she notices Carlos staring at the statue with wide eyes, his face pale.

He flinches almost imperceptibly as she clears her throat. “King Beast wants to make sure that everyone knows that change is not impossible and that there’s good in everyone basically.” He stiffens when Gil claps next to him, frowning up at the statue when it doesn’t change. “It’s charmed, so it only works for Auradon residents.”

Mal snorts. “So you can’t change it either then?”

Dismissing the jab Uma shrugs, “I don’t give a fuck about the King or his statue to be honest.”

She winces as Audrey’s elbow digs into her ribs, ignoring the look she gives her as en restarts their walk. Inside the foyer, students mill about, their conversations fading as they recognize the Villian Kids. Several bow their heads in Ben’s direction before leaving, eyes raking over the group behind them ravid with curiosity. Their patchy leather and zipper linings stand out like sore thumbs among the clothes of the students, but if they're ashamed, the Villain Kids don't show it.

"So this is the entrance to the main part of the school. Our school has four levels in total, though the last one is mostly used for teacher offices and meeting rooms so you won't need to go up there. The doors behind me lead directly into the study halls and main courtyard, a lot of students use it to do homework or hangout so it's open on weekends too but it does close every night with school hours," Ben explains, "Most of the first floor is workshops and bigger classrooms so you'll find most of your classes down here."

"Uh can we go to our rooms first?" Mal looks pointedly at Ben as she gestures to her group. "If you're going to talk for this long I don't want to die from heat as well."

Ben's eyebrows raise at her tone but quickly agrees. He looks stupidly royal as he gestures down the hall with a smile. "Yes, of course. The dormitories are located on the right wing of the campus, they're separated from the school building so you have to walk over but you're allowed to request help if it's needed. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Gil raises a hand, "Do we have to pay for the rooms?" He frowns as Harry nudges him, his voice loud in the quiet foyer. "What."

"No." It's hardly been twenty minutes and Uma can feel the stress already kicking in. If Ben stopped again to explain something she's going to hit him. Hard. "They're free, along with the supplies we will be supplying you with. Along with your dorms you will be given a full years supply of school supplies and books. We can talk about that afterwards though, the dorms are this way.”

She leads the group to the dorms as Ben shows some of the basic classes as they pass. They had timed the tour to be in the middle of periods for their convenience, though it didn’t stop student’s from appearing anyways. They seem to flock to the sight of the VK's, peering out of their classrooms and windows with interest if not outright taking photos as they stand to watch them pass. In her pocket her phone buzzes.

Audrey: _how long is this going to take? I got a nail appointment at three_

Uma: _at this rate we're going to be dead before we finish_

Audrey: _ugh_

Uma: _tell me about it. what do u think of mal?_

Audrey: _rude, idky he wanted to bring her. she's a GANG leader! she's going to murder us tbh_

Uma laughs softly at her friend's dramatics, glancing up from her screen as they step outside. The pathways to the dorms are mostly empty, unlike the school building, allowing them to pick up their pace without distractions. She hears Ben talking about the fields and gardens as she focuses on her phone again, walking a few steps in front of the group.

Uma: _ur going first tbh, idk if I'm a target for her_

Audrey: _she was flirting with Ben!!!!!_

Audrey: _then insulted me!! like it's not my fault my grandparents didn't invite your mom! it's just a stupid party anyways_

Uma: _stupid party or not that was a bitchy move on ur grandparents part :/_

Audrey: _don't tell them that. you'll get an hour lecture about it._

Uma: _ur parents not back from their trip yet? I thought they'd be here for the meetings._ Behind her Uma can hear Audrey's sigh, quickly typing, _can I come with you for that appointment btw? I don't wanna be stuck here with HIM_

Audrey: _yeah sure, he's been watching you a lot btw_

Audrey: _how am I doing with them?_

Uma: _might wanna step it up . I think Ben's two minutes from giving you his disappointed face_

Audrey: _hey I'm not doing THAT bad_

Uma: _keep glaring at Malbitchficent like that and he will_

She slips her phone in her pocket as she climbs the steps up to the dormitory entrance. Pulling her key card out she slaps it against the black keypad beside the handle as the group catches up behind her. At its beep she tugs the door open, feeling air conditioning blasting over her as she steps inside. Turning she watches the VK’s enter, knowing they felt just as hot as they looked in all their leather. The only one who seemed ready for the weather was Jafar's son, though it seemed like that was his regular clothes on the Isle if she was going by the patchiness of his jeans.

Audrey smiles as she stands next to her in the middle of the foyer. Her dress is perfect for today, the short lace sleeves and knee length skirt keeping her from feeling warm. Uma feels cool just looking at her. "Okay," she calls. The VK's look at her expectantly as they stop before them. "This is the girl dormitory which means the boys do not stay here but all the dorm buildings are connected together. Ben's going to show you where to go from here. Evie and Mal can follow me and Audrey."

“So we enter through here though?” Jay asks.

Uma shrugs, “There’s eight entrances, but this is the main one, so yeah, you can but you’ll probably use the side entrances once you figure it out.”

"Bye, babe." Pressing a kiss to Ben's cheek Audrey steps beside Uma as the other VK's follow the Prince to the halls. Evie’s heels click loudly against the polished floor as she steps towards them as Audrey begins talking. "So this is the entrance hall to the girl dorms. There are two buildings for each gender, and guards posted on each floor. They're really just there for tradition but if you ever get lost they will lead you to where you need to go."

"And we just ask them?" Evie asks.

Uma nods as she points to the guard standing by the doors they had entered. He doesn’t glance at them, dressed in a black suit, his hands tucked behind his back. "Yeah, they're usually nice. So there are stairs on the right side of the building over there but today we are going to take the elevator. Did you guys have one on the Isle?"

Mal snorts. "Sure, if you decided entire elevators as trash then yeah, we have plenty."

Ignoring her tone Uma casts a look at Audrey but the Princess is stepping into the elevator, her key card clutched in one hand. Her pink keys jingle as she presses it against the scanner below the buttons, pressing the floor number when beeps. "You guys would usually have a pass to get into this building but seeing that you don't have any, you're getting a free pass until we can go get your tags."

"Do we have to use these cards everywhere?" Mal huffs, arms crossed over her chest. “So you can fucking track us?”

"Not really," Audrey explains, "They're used mostly for identification but they do let you into your dorms and floors. For instance after eight, girls and guys cannot be in each other's dorms so after curfew, girls cannot get into the boys dormitory and vise versa. And if you are in a dorm before curfew and do not leave beforehand, a guard will come to escort you out."

The elevator dings lowly as they reach the floor. Allowing the VK's off first Uma takes a deep breath as she follows Audrey off. Mal scowls at her, seemingly reading her bad mood with ease before she focuses on Audrey again.

Chandeliers hang from the ceiling between skylights, casting a soft white glow as they make their way down the hall, their steps muffled on the thick blue carpet. Doors line the beige walls, a keypad sitting above every doorknob. Some trinkets hang off the door handles, identifying the rooms to lessen mistakes, some having posters and pages plastered over every inch of the wood.

"It's this last one here," Audrey scans her card again, stepping into the room with a smile. “It’s what every room starts out with but you’re always allowed to special order stuff as needed.”

The room is simple but Uma can almost feel the rage radiating off Mal at the sight of the softly coloured room. Their bags sit on respective twin beds atop matching flower designed covers. A table sits across from the beds, a glass cabinet of bookshelves tucked in to the corner, a television propped on the wall. The windows in the sitting area spill sunlight onto the blue carpet running through the entire room, two seats facing each other in the little alcove. The dressers and nightstands placed beside each bed on either side are covered with matching items.

Mal scoffs at the sight, and the sound laced with disgust. "Oh my god."

Evie fans herself with her hand as she looks around the room. The joy on her face strikes Uma as the first emotion she'd seen on the blue haired girl. "I know right," she gasps, "It's so-"

"Disgusting." Mal finishes.

Uma watches Evie drop her hand, her smile fading back to the delicate thing she had on before. "Disgusting. Yeah, totally."

Sitting on the bag holding her bag Mal quickly sheds her jacket, glaring at the windows as she tosses it on the bed. Following her lead Evie reaches up to her neck and undoes her jacket, folding it carefully over her bag. Her dress is a surprise, the almost totally black top leaving her shoulders and collarbone bare, blue embroidered sleeves covering her arms entirely. In the sunlight her pale skin glistens with sweat, and Uma frowns.

Unlike Evie, Mal has ditched her jacket to reveal a tight fitting top underneath. The mesh is see-through along her shoulders before becoming black as it falls down to her hips in bunches of fabric. Several necklaces hang from her neck, on display now that the jacket is gone, though Uma decides it doesn't make her feel any better at the sight of the designs of claws and dragons on them.

Snapping her fingers Mal gestures to Evie as she tugs the curtains close next to her. Evie complies with no hesitation, closing her own as quickly as possible as Mal stalks to the sitting area and draws those closed too. “There,” she nods, “This place is so fucking sunny.”

Swallowing back the annoyance in her throat Uma ignores Mal’s dramatics as she brushes her hands off on her shirt as if she had touched something bad. "Sadly, no dorm room has its own bathroom or shower but each floor has a shower room and bath room available at all times. If you don't like something you are allowed to file for a Request to Change down in the lobby, of course roommates are non negotiable unless approved by Fairy Godmother, which doesn't happen."

"Ugh," Turning from the now closed window Mal raises a brow, "For being all goody two shoes, you people have a lot of rules."

"For somebody who claims to be bad you sure bitch a lot."

The VK pauses at Uma's reply, obviously not expecting her to snap back. Evie’s mouth falls open in surprise, the blank look fading as a smile tugs at her lips. Mal narrows her eyes, green eyes glimmering in the new dim lighting as she begins to reply.

God, her mom was going to murder her.

Audrey laughs airily, "Excuse Uma, she's gets into moods when it's hot outside. Uma why don't you go wait for the girls to finish in the hall?"

"The hall?" She looks at the brunette with a laugh, but shrugs at the pointed look in her eyes, "Fine, I didn’t want to do this anyways." Thankful for the excuse to leave she shuts the door behind her.

Anger simmers in her chest at the idea of listening to Mal’s bitchy comments all day. Diplomacy had never been her forte, unlike magic or swimming, something that continued to be a problem between her and her mom. How was she supposed to carry out this plan if she couldn’t stand one afternoon of this?

With a sigh Uma leans against the wall, sliding down until she's sitting on the carpet, her legs stretched out in front of her. The beginnings of a headache are starting but if it's from the heat or the frustration, she can't tell.

"Hard day?" A voice asks.

"No," Cracking an eye open Uma spots Jane, in her pastel blue dress walking towards her, "Frustrated as fuck though."

"Is it those," Jane gestures to the door beside her, "New kids?"

"Yeah."

Jane smiles shyly as she crouches next to her. "I can probably convince my mom to let you off if you want. I just helped her cast the spells on the pirate’s swords, she’s in a good mood from it."

Uma shakes her head. "No, don't bother, Audrey and me are ditching at two thirty for her nails anyways. It's just annoying because Maleficent's daughter is being a bitch."

"You really shouldn't swear so much," Jane notes. She opens the binder on her lap, handing over two standard looking identification cards. Both pictures on them are grainy, but it's clear who they are. "Anyways, my mom sent me to give you these. Same rules apply as always."

"Any advice?"

Standing with the dark haired girl Uma takes the cards. "Always treat people like you want to be treated." Jane smiles, "They've been trained to be evil their entire lives, Uma, you can't fight them just because they annoy you. They're meant to do that."

Rolling her eyes Uma waves the smaller girl away. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Run before your mom has you doing something else."

As Jane disappears into the elevator Uma walks back into the room. Audrey has the remote for the television in her hand, talking about the different channels they have and programs. Evie’s voice drifts to her as she inquires about the television, brows raising as Audrey happily answers her. Mal lies on her bed with her arm over her face as if asleep but she sits up with ease as the doors clicks shut behind Uma.

Holding up the cards, Uma tosses Mal’s card to her as she hands Evie’s hers. "Jane gave me these. They're your ID cards. The key is to not lose them because you'll have to explain to admin why you lost it. Losing it enough times gets your privilege taken away for a month where a guard follows you around to let you into places."

Evie grabs a box purse off her bed, shoving her card inside as she slings the strap over her head. "Where are we going next?"

"We're going to meet with the boys," Audrey answers, "Then lunch and a tour of the school."

By the time they've stopped to show the showers and bathrooms and take the stairs down just for show, Evie’s skin is pale, sweat beading over her brow. Without their jackets, both girls look even thinner than before, and Uma can already hear the jealous whispers of the other girls. She never quite got the hype behind diets but it's the impression of Evie's ribs when she shifts to follow Audrey that has her texting Ben.

Uma: _i think the girls are low-key starving, i can see evie's ribs._

Ben: _what_

Ben: _Okay, should we do lunch then? The infirmary isn't until tomorrow, but I can call right now and ask them to book them today._

Uma: _you better call them. i don't want anyone passing out in the science labs or smth_

Looking up from her screen Uma allows her drama skills to take over, sighing as she slumps her shoulders. "Okay so change of plans, the infirmary is booked today so we can't give you a school tour after lunch."

"Really? I thought it was booked tomorrow," Audrey frowns.

"It was but they just called Ben, they want them in today. So that means they can't eat too much incase they get sick," Uma lies. Because Jay vomiting in the rose bush wasn't a big enough sign. Why did they put candy in a car of starving kids? She could hear her mother’s lecture already. "Either way they'll get to see the cafeteria which is the main part."

It's a flurry of activity as Audrey leads them to the boys. Between texting Ben and updating Audrey for later on her sudden aversion to heat and fast paced walking, Uma feels jittery by the time they reach the gardens. The boys have all shed off their jackets, standing in one of the gazebos as Audrey leads her group towards them. The ratty t-shirt Harry wears is even worse without the leather jacket but that’s not what Uma finds herself staring at.

His pale skin is littered with tattoos, his right arm almost entirely covered with flowers, a rope wraps around his wrist tangled with the of leaves the drawf carnations that go up under his gloves, a compass nestled in a pink gladiolus on his forearm, a sword stabbed into a rose on his bicep. Audrey’s face confirms the fear that’s nestled itself in her stomach as she forces herself to look again at the sight of the long red petaled blooms she knows scatter the gardens.

_Uma, this is important, people honour the dead with flowers like lilies, gladious’, and roses._

_One day you will have to send someone condolences and it’s critical you do not mess up. If you gave someone daisies for a funeral well, that would be awful!_

Her mother's voice rings in her ear as she recalls the list of flowers, the historical importance of each one during her lessons in Atlantica of the human funeral customs. Each has been drawn carefully on Harry’s arm with delicate lines, the colours only highlighting the outlines instead of filling them out.

She nearly misses the shout as Harry moves from his spot beside Gil with a snarl. Her brows raise as she notes the twin stars that decorate his other forearm as he raises it to punch Jay.

Ben looks unfairly cool in the heat, his hands raised placatingly. “Hey hey guys, we don’t fight here.”

“He took mah fuckin’,” Harry growls as Jay dodges his fist, “Took mah fuckin’ watch.” In an impressive move Uma watches the pirate grab Jay, kicking out his right leg and bodily throwing the thief over his shoulder. Jay grunts as he slams into the ground, but Harry’s got his arm locked around his neck in a chokehold.

“Give it back.” Harry snarls.

Jay laughs, the sound cold. “Fuck you.”

Tightening his hold Harry’s eyes bleed red. “Now.”

“Don’t kill him,” Audrey yells.

Mal scowls where Gil has held her from joining the fray, raising an arm in warning as she throws up a hand. A familiar design catches Uma’s eye on Gil’s forearm, the same roped wrapped hook she had seen on Harry’s jacket. “For fucks sake, Jay,” Mal barks, “Just give it back already.”

Digging into his pocket, Jay tosses the watch away with a grunt. Harry immediately drops him as he lunges for it, muttering under his breath as he wraps it around his wrist this time, securing the chain underneath the bandage. The way his fingers move to arrange it is almost hypnotizing, and Uma knows it’s not his first time he’s done it.

“There is no fighting allowed on school grounds, at all, and if you do that again, Harry I will have the guards escort you to Fairy Godmother.” Audrey lays a hand on her boyfriend's arm as he starts talking. Harry opens his mouth to retort but Ben waves him silent, eyes narriowing as he focuses on the thief. Uma wants to yell at the VK for looking so proud but Jay’s grin falters as Ben steps closer to him, his father's infamous anger showing. “Jay, stealing is against the law, and while I will not press charges on either of you today, if you steal something again I will have you in the school jail faster than you can imagine. I will not tolerate crime where I can stop it, you six are here to learn and fix the mistakes your parents make but you will be held responsible for your own actions while you are here.”

Stepping in front of Ben, Audrey raises a hand to his cheek, her voice soft. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Fine.” Audrey blinks as Ben brushes past her, shooting a glare at the VK’s as he walks down the gazebo steps, fingers fiddling with his cufflinks. “Let’s get going, we’re already behind schedule and I don’t want to miss the appointments.”

Ever resilient, Ben’s new snappy mood doesn’t stop Audrey from linking their arms, leaving Uma to glare at the VK’s with a passion. Her mind whirls as she trails after them, trying to think of ways to keep the peace. If something like this got to their parents, Uma doubts she could make them stop them from shipping the kids back.

By the time they get the school again Ben’s princey exterior is firmly back in place and Uma still has no idea as she watches Harry flip Jay off. Lunch had safely been an hour ago, and only a few students sit at the empty tables, their books in front of them. Uma catches one of them snapping a photo of the group, typing away on his phone as Ben leads them to the buffet line.

"The cafeteria remains open twenty four seven, which means you can come down here whenever you need something to eat or drink though there are communal kitchens in every building of the dorms. If you want hot food it's going to come from here though. Eating hours are from six AM to eight PM and is served by our staff who choose the food selection every day."

Jay stares at the tins of food laid out behind the glass as they pass them. “You mean we can choose any of these?" Uma rolls her eyes as she leads them to their lunch table, kicking her feet onto the table as Ben and Audrey settle next to her. She notes with interest the way Harry leaves a seat between him and the other VK’s, pointedly drawing Gil to his other side. The animosity seems to drain out of the VK’s as they walk past the food, and none of the group seem inclined to bring it up as Ben talks.

"Most days you would," Ben grimaces, "But considering we do not know of any allergies you have or anything we have a select plating for you guys today. I ask you don't eat too much either because you will be seeing doctors after this and I don't think any of you want to spend the night in an infirmary."

The VK's silent excitement at the prospect of food doesn't falter in the slightest as they stare at the staff carrying over large plates of banana’s, applesauce, and cheese. Another staff member places down cups of water, and a plate seasoned eggs halves. If she hadn’t known better Uma would have commented on the strange food selection, instead remaining silent as she watches the VK’s dig in.

"The doctors have informed me to tell you to each drink an entire cup of water. Not too fast, or you'll get sick." Ben says.

Immeditaely Harry hooks his fingers onto the nearest plate, dragging it over to him and Gil. He flips Mal off when she looks at him, a slice of apple already in between her teeth. Uma ignores the theatrics, watching Evie from the corner of her eyes as she scrolls through her phone, sending a text to Audrey as the blue haired VK gatheres herself a plate of food. She pretends not pay attention as Evie nibbles on a piece of a banana, her blue lined eyes tracking the others as they dig in.

Uma: _evie doesn’t eat much, don’t say anything but tell the doctors_

Ben: _okay, the boys seems good. Harry doesn’t look likes he’s missed a meal ever_

Audrey: _yeah because he’s insane. Who the hell carries knives and swords around? To a school?????_

Uma: _tbh i think its normal for them_

Audrey: _he’s going to murder FG when he discovers he can’t use it or that hook_

Audrey: _also. A hook?!_

Ben: _I already told him but he just laughed._

Audrey: _because he’s insane_

Uma: _okay just bc his dad was, doesn’t mean he is, tbh it could b an act. evie has like a zillion smiles fyi. I think she has one just for “descending stairs”_

Ben: _what?_

Audrey: _yeah that girl never stops smiling, grams would love her :///_

Glancing at the time Uma gets to her feet, stretching. “Okay, we have to go now.”

Harry looks at her, brows furrowing as he licks his fingers clean. His eyes drag over her before he meets her eyes, dark brow arching in question. “Right, so now we go an’ get checked. Fer wha’, scurvy?”

“Scurvy?” Audrey frowns up at him, “It’s a health check. Everyone gets one.”

Another lie.

Halfway through their walk through the school, Uma finds Audrey making signals to her and remembers their promise. They snicker at the deadpan look Ben gives them as two guards step in to replace them. Any new scuffle would be taken as a threat, and Mal’s unimpressed scoff says it all: They’d be on their best behavior, for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment!!!  
> also Ben, Audrey's, and Uma's group chat name is: chuckitinthefuckitbucket


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uma resolves to do her best, only to find out their best might not be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i meant to post this on canada day and then got distracted and yesterday i went to the beach so here it is! finally!!
> 
> thanks for waiting! i hope you enjoy this chapter!!

“Why did we decide to do this again?” Uma yawns from her seat across from Ben at his desk. “It’s too early to do this.”

Ben laughs from his spot, a tea clutched in one hand as he flips a page over of his latest document. “Because we decided it was important to give innocent people a chance at redemption.”

“Yeah but not at fuck hours of the morning.”

Ben narrows his eyes at her as she downs her coffee, the awful taste waking her up a lot faster than the caffeine. The sun is just glimmering over the treetops as they sit in his office, Uma sitting with her favourite chair, a light blue highback with arm rests she can kick her legs over.

Yesterday’s appointment ended in chaos despite Ben’s best diplomatic skills. Ben had called them in the middle of their appointment, halfway to snapping at the VK’s as they fought the doctors. Despite her stance as a leader, none of the other VK’s had punched their doctors after Mal punched hers, though Jay had been caught stealing a dubious amount of equipment during his shots. The only decent people that ended out of the appointment on time were Evie, Gil and Carlos, though the way they stood completely still against the walls said things Uma didn’t want to bring up this early in the morning.

Looking at the nicely typed out schedule for today Uma swallows the urge to get angry as she pictures Mal’s bratty comments. This was their plan, they can handle another day of VK’s in all their unholy glory.

“So what are we doing first,” Uma asks, “Want me to wake up Evie and Mal? I don’t think the boys will be up before three if I’m honest. Teenage boys suck.”

“We got a long time before then,” Ben pulls a notepad in front of him, clicking a pen open. “Can you tell me what you thought of them. I’m going to start keeping a journal about them for the Council when I see them in a couple of weeks to see if they improve.”

Unhooking her leg from her arm rest she straightens in her chair as she recalls the day. After she had escaped with Audrey to her nail appointment, they had spent the day complaining about the VK’s before they had decided to take another chance like their parent’s had always preached. They had met up with Ben afterwards to listen to the doctors.

Turns out they were all underfed. Evie was far worse than the rest of them much to the doctors' fears, her own personal health problems being longer than the rest by several lines. Even Carlos clocked in at ten pounds heavier than the self proclaimed princess despite being smaller than her. Signs of scurvy were shown in Mal and Jay, though Harry had explained he’d been taught by his dad the dangers of no fruit. His voice was edged with something akin to pride in his voice as Gil was the sole one to get a clean bill of health, where the captain himself was shown to be anemic alongside Evie.

Luckily the allergies were few, as Carlos got diagnosed with lactose intolerance, and Evie with allergies to peanuts and strawberries. None of which had been on the lunch platters by some stroke of luck. Something in Uma twinged as Ben had described the VK’s surprise at the news as if they had never thought about allergies being dangerous.

Audrey had decided to take over the preparations for the meals at the look Uma got at the long list of requirements. Introducing these six to regular meals and eating habits was going to take longer than any of them wanted to admit. It had been a difficult discussion to persuade the doctors to not keep Evie in the clinic, but they had managed.

“Well, Evie is a basket case. I don’t think that girl can turn off her whacky training or whatever,” she starts, “Out of them all I’d watch her the most, but she seems nice overall. That bitch Mal totally shut her down yesterday when they saw the rooms, Evie looked happy to see them and Mal ignored her.”

Ben nods along, “Yeah I noticed that, I’m getting Audrey to show her around today. She’s got like twenty items to talk about, ranging from dresses to the weather.”

Uma rolls her eyes at the mention of his girlfriend. She topped the weekly lists for Best Princess, Best Heir, Best Fashion for a reason, unlike Uma. “Other than that, Carlos seemed really quiet. Definitely hates commotion, so maybe give him Doug to show him around today.”

“Commotion?” Ben frowns as he pauses his notes, “You mean like loud noises and crowds?”

She nods,“Yeah, and Gil is really nice for Gaston’s kid, so I wouldn’t worry about him. Harry’s protective of him.”

“What about Mal?” Ben looks up from his paper. “I know you don’t like her but just try to be unbiased.”

Uma traces the lip of her cup as she ponders Malbitchficent, the nickname causing a smile to stretch across her face. “She’s definitely used to being in control, and expects the group to follow her. Short tempered obviously but she doesn’t act out like Jay or Harry, she might try to plan something instead. She’s on a one way Hate Train for All Things Auradon.”

“Jay?”

“Seems okay for the most part. He’s not going to stop stealing just because you snapped at him yesterday so you’re going to have to put him in jail for a night or something soon.” Ben sighs at the mention of the incident yesterday and Uma can’t help the laugh that escapes her as he rests his head on his desk. “Hey, hey, we knew this would happen.”

“It doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck,” he groans, “My dad’s going to murder me if I have to send him to the holding cells. Right after your mom flays me alive.”

“My mom already got her steam out last night,” her laugh sounds strained to even her as Ben raises a brow in question, “She kept me up half the night going over why this was an awful idea. And how Harry Hook is going to bring the same madness to the seas that his father did.”

Ben looks up from his desk, “Your mom said that?”

“Among other things.”

Lifting himself off his desk the prince settles back into his position, glancing over the list. “Okay, and Harry.”

The name jolts through her body like a harpoon. She had been raised on the idea of Hook’s being awful pirates, mad beyond saving and just as lethal. Harry had shown some alarming mannerisms, one’s they had expected but something in the way he acted made her wary of him. “He’s outright violent towards Mal’s group, which is going to be a shitfest.”

“But we prepared for this,” Ben says, “We knew he was violent before we decided to enact the plan.”

“But how much was that his father and how much was that him?” Uma recalls the terrifying moment Harry had been fighting Jay. As quickly as he had taken down Jay, Uma didn’t believe for a second that he was trying his hardest. The sword he arrived with proved that. “His eyes went red yesterday over his pocket watch for fucks sake. And when I saw him at dinner he didn’t seem any less inclined to remind me that he was a pirate.”

Their first dinner last night was nothing less than awkward and tense. Despite their best efforts at talking, Audrey and Ben had both failed to get either group responding with more than a grunt of affirmation or a raised brow. Uma had watched the entire shitfest as she studied for her history test, her subsequent failure to remember straight forward facts between glaring at Harry and Mal had sent her mood spiraling down. She didn’t manage to finish her dinner before she declared herself done, and stormed away to yell to Lonnie back in their dorm.

“Uma-” Ben starts.

“If we’re not careful, he’s going to lash out because it's just him and Gil whereas Mal has three of her lackey’s with her and he knows it. Bringing just him here was a shit idea, Gil’s fucking report was missing his position as Harry’s first mate and that’s pretty fucking important.”

The prince deflates at the end of her speech, rubbing a hand over his face and suddenly she feels awful for dumping her worries on him. Her mom had taught her better than to ramble, and here she was throwing her own fears onto her best friend as if he didn’t have enough.

Setting her cup on the wooden desk Uma sighs. “I’m sorry, I’m just nervous about him being here. My mom’s halfway to the Isle already to get him back inside and I’m just repeating what she’s been saying my entire life.”

“It’s fine,” Ben waves away her apology with a smile, “You’re right anyways, he’s going to be a handful just by himself but I’m sure he’s more preoccupied keeping Gil from running around the school than fighting Mal right now.”

Before Uma can answer Audrey appears in the door, dressed in an off the shoulder white blouse and a pink and blue flower patterned skirt. Despite the early morning, she looks refreshing, ready to conquer the day in her heels like usual. “Morning,” she greets, “I got everything ready for the VK’s, and I sent out a text to Doug and Jane to meet us in the mess later.”

Kissing her in greeting Ben’s smile widens. “I don’t know what me and Uma would do without you.”

“Nothing,” she laughs, taking her own seat beside Uma’s, “How’s it going up here?”

“Everything's fine, but I think we can stop working until we have to meet Doug and Jane today.” Ben taps his pen, pointedly ignoring Uma’s narrowed eyes. “But I think we will leave Gil and Harry together today. I don’t want Harry to freak out in the halls.”

Audrey claps her hands, her smile turning sharp as staff members appear at the door, toting three plates of delicious looking breakfast crepes and drinks. They roll it in on a trolley, leaving the cart to the side after the trio have been served. “Knowing you two, you both needed a break anyways.”

Her smile is alight with pride as Uma attacks her breakfast. Anything made in the kitchens was always great but nothing could beat fresh crepes drizzled with chocolate and fresh fruit. The perks to being the Crown Prince’s best friend, she thought. They talk until the sun is well up, the temperature quickly climbing for another hot day. By the time they leave to go to the cafe Uma feels ready for the VK’s.

Ben clearly feels the same as he greets their two friends with open arms at the mess hall doors. “Hey guys, thanks for coming.”

Jane beams at the prince, “Not a problem, really, it’s our pleasure. My mom was going to have me see them eventually.”

They take their seats at their table as students leave for class as the morning bell sounds, books and bags in hand. At five minutes to half past eight, Evie shows up, a new jacket on despite the heat, the small cape fluttering about her shoulders. Mal appears a second later with the boys trailing after her looking tired. Harry doesn’t seem at all affected by the early morning as he and Gil take their seats at the table, their heads tilted between each other in conversation.

Looking at Ben, Mal drums her fingers on the table. “What are we doing today, your majesty?”

“Ah.” Jane squeaks as Mal’s eyes land on her, tucking her hands into her lap as she begins to talk. “It's a tour today, and then my mom, I mean Fairy Godmother, the Headmistress, is going to test you on some things to see what classes you guys fit in to.”

“Right,” Harry looks up from where he’s twisting his hook to glint in the light, brows jumping at the squeak Jane lets out as he gestures to her with it, “So, no school, yeah?”

“None,” Audrey cuts in, “After breakfast we’ll split you up into teams and give you tours of the classes. Your meals have been specially prepared as the doctors have ordered for the next few weeks, so you will not be allowed to snack or eat anything that is not approved by the staff.”

Gil frowns at the princess’ words but doesn’t argue, instead following Harry as the dark haired boy stands up and heads to get his breakfast. Quickly all the VK’s follow, grabbing their customized plates and sitting back down.

Evie smiles beautifully as she grabs her utensils, “Thank you, your highness.”

Uma laughs as Ben gaps, his mouth dropping open at his official title but Evie is focused on her plate. It was easy to tell Ben’s importance in their little group, his suits alway tailored to fit in perfectly where they wore regular clothes and though they were all expensive, Uma didn’t doubt for a second that the watch on his wrist outclassed them all. As Heir to the Auradon throne, he received more attention at the school than any of them, except maybe Audrey during one of her charity runs.

Ben gestures around the table as he starts talking, “So Audrey is going to go with Evie, I’ll go with Mal, Jane gets Harry and Gil, Jay goes with Doug, and Uma gets Carlos. Sound like a plan?”

“Perfect,” Uma agrees.

Carlos turns out to be even quieter once he leaves Mal and the others. Uma finds herself filling the silence as she leads him to the art wing. He doesn’t meet her eyes despite her best efforts as she shows him the main floor. It’s quiet so she’s not particularly paying attention as she focuses on Carlos, and acts on instinct when a student suddenly rounds a corner. Grabbing Carlos she pulls him behind her as the student sprints by with an apology.

“You’d think for a school of good kids they’d be able to not run indoors.” Turning to face Carlos she freezes at the sight of his face. His freckles stand out harshly against his sudden paleness, wide eyes staring up at her. Sucking in a breath she lets his arm go, watching as he tucks his shoulders in. “Sorry.”

He ignores her, and she presses her lips together as she forces herself to move on. Her first stop is the art wing’s second floor, though she shows him where he might have his own art class on the first floor.  
It’s an incredible sight to anyone who’s not used to it, the walls covered in murals that stretch several meters, every part of the wing acting as art, from the handmade light fixtures to the window doodles, and she tells him as much. Where the rest of the school has sturdy wooden walls and carpets, the art hall is white, giant windows lighting up the halls and classrooms with natural light.

Carlos blinks at the sight of the array of colours, glancing at Uma with surprise. She gestures to a painting as they pass it, “Do you like art?”

“No.”

“Well, they hold art classes here every day obviously, but after school hours they have an art club. It’s super chill and they let anybody in and you can get your own canvas and you can paint whatever you want.” She stops at one of the open doors, peering inside the see huge canvas’ drying inside the empty classroom. More art hangs on the walls than should be physically possible. Paint stains the counters and scuffs the floors with colour streaks of colour inside. “This is what they do over here. Those weird lights you saw back there are art too.”

His head snaps towards her from where he was staring at a painting, brows rising in question and Uma feels a surge of victory at the curiosity in his face.

Uma leads him back out to the hallway to the lights, this particular one is a bunch of different bottles hanging from a carved piece of wood, light bulbs nestled inside the glass. “Some kids involve technology in their art to make it usable in everyday life. Some of them I don’t get, but the ones that have lights are always pretty.”

She pauses as she notices the ghost of a smile that flickers over his face as he looks the project over. He glances at her for a moment, before he focuses back on the light, curiosity washing over his features and it strikes her just how young he is. Waving him to go check out the rest of the lights in the hall, she pulls out her phone.

Uma: _carlos likes tech, i’m going to show him the computer labs_

Ben: _Try showing him the stage room, there’s lots of tech there._

Uma: _don’t try to touch them, carlos had a bad reaction when i did it_

Ben: _Is he fine? And okay._

Uma: _just shaken_

She makes a note to visit the theatre as she leads Carlos from the art wing. They run into Jane leading the pirates around the courtyard. The grip on her clipboard hurts Uma just looking at it but the taller girl chalks it up to nerves. “Hey.”

Jane twirls around at the sound of her voice. “Hi, hey, how’re you doing?”

Carlos is back to staring at his shoes, his fingers tapping something on his palm. “Fine,” Uma answers, “I showed him the art wing, figured they didn’t have that over there.”

“We had art.” Gil frowns at Uma like he’s confused at how she can assume something like that, “But it wasn’t pretty. It never stayed because the rain washed everything away.”

“Tha’s because it wasnae art,” Lounging on the column behind them, Harry makes a gesture with his hand, eyes shut against the sunlight. He looks harsher somehow, his strong jaw highlighted in the light as he turns his face towards them, cracking one eye open. “What? Ye thought we jus’ sat around all day? Mal had her entire territory covered in spray paint.”

“Mal did art?” Jane lights up at the information, “That’s great, we have an entire art wing. She’d love the Project Wall if she’s into graffiti.”

Gil frowns. “What’s a Project Wall?”

“Oh, it’s this alley we have for art projects that the kids can’t fit on canvas’ and stuff. There's always new stuff there so it’s a fun place to hang out.” Jane explains. She looks to Uma with a smile, “You just came from there right?”

“Well I didn’t go to the Wall but I showed him the second floor,” Carlos shifts beside her, his shoulder knocking into hers and she nods, “Anyways I’m going to show him the computer labs.”

Leaving Jane with the pirates, Uma excuses them to continue the tour. She shows him some tricks of getting around when it’s busy by taking back stairs and service hallways. He never says more than one word at a time as she looks for confirmation that she’s been heard but Uma brushes it off, she’s had worse talking partners before. She shudders at the memory of all the awful memories of boys trying and failing to get her affection.

The rest of the tour goes smoothly as Carlos sees the tech rooms, and she shows him how to log in to the computers. She swallows back a laugh as he immediately starts looking up the most ridiculous things just to experiment, his face lighting up as he scans the search results. The next room is the tech club, their parts left on top of the counters in mid project, tape on the floor, tools stored in boxes below tables of schematics.

Carlos looks at her as she waves him forward with a shrug. “Don’t break anything, but you can look.”

“Really?” Carlos balls his hands into fists as he shifts, “Are you sure?”

She nearly laughs at the speed in which he darts to the nearest robot, the clunky thing tucked safely underneath one of the long tables. He doesn’t seem to notice her slow approach a few minutes later from the doorway, hands busy flitting over the robot where he's sat criss cross on the floor. She watches as he mutters to himself, and she feels almost guilty for the surprise that washes over her as he begins to explain the device to her.

Feeling a sudden burst of fondness at his excitement she holds her hands out in a gesture to pause. “You’re losing me. In Atlantica we don’t use electronics at all, so you’re going to have to be simple.”

The VK gapes at her for a moment, glancing at the robot then to her with something akin to surprise in his eyes. She can almost hear the gears in his head turning as he restarts, describing each component carefully as he looks up at her for questions before moving on. They nearly get through the entirety of the creation before her phone buzzes.

Ben: _We’re in the cafe. Where are you?_

Carlos stiffens as she curses. “What?”

“We’re late,” Getting to her feet she gestures for Carlos to follow her, “I totally fucking forgot about the time.”

“Sorry.”

Uma shakes her head, leading them out the room. “No no it’s fine, I should’ve checked the time.”

Uma: _on our way_

Ben: _Did something go wrong?_

Uma: _no, just forgot_

Carlos nearly slams into her as she skids to a stop at the end of the hall, eyes catching on the service door next to them. Turning to the VK, Uma raises her brows, “Wanna take a shortcut?”

“To the cafeteria?” Carlos asks.

“Yeah,” Uma grins, “Up for it?”

Taking his shrug as a yes Uma throws the door open, leading him down the stairs. It’s a maze of white halls with no signs or arrows, but it doesn't slow her down as they race through the halls, their steps the only sound. They reach the set of stairs leading to the back of the kitchen within a minute, ignoring the look they get from the staff inside as they burst through the door with apologies.

“Go go,” Uma pants, “Carlos!”

The shorter teen ducks around her, slamming his shoulder in to the next door, holding it open. Something akin to a laugh sounds as Uma watches him kick the door shut and dart after her, a wide smile stretched across his face as they skid in to the cafeteria. She grins as Carlos highfives her before going to sit next to Evie at the table, a small smile on his lips as she greets him.

Ben whirls around at the sound of the door hitting the wall, his mouth dropping open. “I thought you were in the computer labs.”

Slamming her hands on the table Uma takes a moment to catch her breath. “We were.”

“Then how’d you get back so quickly?”

“We ran,” Uma blinks at Carlos as he looks up at her, “What? We did.”

Taking her seat Uma coughs, biting back the laughter threatening to spill out. “Yeah, we did.”

She rests her head in her arms as Ben starts talking, eyes tracking over the VK’s. In his seat Harry looks half asleep, fingers drawing random patterns on the table top next to Gil. His red coat is back on, collar turned up despite the heat, one arm slung over the back of his chair. Harry adjusts in his seat, casting a look at his first mate, the corner of his mouth tugged up in a roguish smile. Uma feels her stomach flutter at the sight of it, the sunlight turning his pale eyes into ice as they flicker towards her.

Realizing she’s been caught she pulls out her phone, tuning in to listen to the tail end of Ben’s speech. She lasts ten seconds before she looks up again, heat rushing to her face at the sight of the pirate’s stare. Unlike the thousands of other boys she’s caught staring at her, he doesn’t blink at the attention. She raises a brow, watching Harry’s lips quirk up in a smile, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Ben’s clap races through her like a bucket of ice and she tears her eyes away from the pirate. “What?”

The prince frowns at her. “I was just finishing up about their tests. You good?” He tilts his head at her, “Are you okay?”

A part of Uma wants to punch her friend for the obvious blow. Dick. “Thought you asked me a question.”

Back in her dorm room hours later, Uma falls onto her bed. She groans at the feeling of relaxing for the rest of the evening, lying open armed on her mattress. Not opening her eyes she kicks off her heels, hearing them thud against the dresser.

“You’re going to break something one day if you keep doing that.” Lonnie says from her bed.

Rolling her eyes Uma turns onto her stomach, laying her head in her arms. Her roommate smiles at her from her own bed, notes spread in front of her. “You doing homework?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Lonnie taps her pencil against her textbook, “I got a test tomorrow in History.”

“Which one again?”

“Auradon’s.”

Shooting up from her position Uma stares at the dark haired girl, “That’s tomorrow?”

“Yeah?”

“Fuck.”

Grabbing her backpack, Uma dumps it’s contents onto her covers, flipping her agenda open to the current week as Lonnie laughs. In her favourite blue ink, her scratchy scrawl ‘His:A’ is written in the slot for tomorrow. “Fuuuuuck.”

“Here,” Lonnie holds out her notebook, “I have the important points down already.”

Her notebook is almost annoyingly perfect, her notes printed beautifully in black pen, titles and words highlighted in different colours. Uma glances at her own notebook, more doodles stretching across the pages than words. “You sure?”

Lonnie nods. “Go for it. I have to take a break anyways.”

“Ugh, I wish. My moms up my ass about this deal with the kids from the Isle and I’m exhausted.”

Lonnie stiffens and whirls around. “Right! How did that go?”

“Fine.” Uma kicks her feet up as she flips a page of Lonnie’s notebook. Apparently she had forgotten all about the Battle of Sherwood Forest, or just not paid attention. “None of them are too bad, if you ignore the part they’re super inclined to violence.”

“That’s not good.”

The sea witch throws a hand up in the air. “Exactly but Hook and Gaston’s sons brought swords, and knives.” Giving up on studying Uma sits criss cross as Lonnie seats herself across from her. “I’m not kidding, Hook’s son had a hook and everything, they had to give everything to Fairy Godmother though.”

“Why did they have swords? You mean like actual swords and not the dulled ones we use in practice right?”

Uma nods. “Harry Hook is the captain of his own crew on the Isle and we thought it would be a good idea to isolate him so he wasn’t a threat but turns out Gaston’s son is his first mate.”

“How about you send them over to me,” she suggests, “Maybe they’d like to do ROAR.”

“I don’t know.”

Lonnie rolls her eyes. “Come on, they’ll be able to join the team if they’re good enough.”

“I’ll suggest it to them but I can’t promise they’ll want to join,” Uma explains, “I didn’t want him here in the first place because he’s a pirate but Ben said it would be good for us to invite people who threatened us too.”

She shrugs as she looks down at her bracelet. She had made it on one her longer stays at Atlantica, learning from the mermaids on how to thread old pirate sails into shells. By the time she left for Auradon that fall she had made enough to line her room at Atlantica, learning the different ties and designs as the mermaids gossiped with her. Some of her best had taken days as she scoured the sea floor for suitable shells until her mom had shown her the best little crook in the sea where thousands of perfect shells laid in the sand.

Letting the bracelet go Uma smiles at her friend, wiggling her eyebrows. “I can tell you that he’s good looking though. Has this pirate look really going for him.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, look, here’s a photo of him today.”

Handing over her phone Uma grins at the sight of Lonnie’s mouth dropping open. She knew it was a good one. He had been in the middle of talking to Gil, a hand hooked on his belts where his sword would be, the other on his first mate’s shoulder. His ever present smile titled to one side like he was more amused than he should be.

“He’s hot.”

“Lonnie!”

“What? It’s true! Look at him!” Snatching her phone back she laughs as Lonnie lunges for her, tackling her back on to the notebooks. She laughs loudly as the taller girl fights her for it, letting out an unholy screech as Lonnie tickles her. “Give it back, I want to take a photo!”

Writhing underneath her Uma holds her phone out of reach, blocking Lonnie’s arm with her free one. “No-o-o! You can’t! S-Stop it!” Minutes later Uma watches her roommate scroll through the photos on her phone on her own bed, looking far too proud for someone who cheated.

Finally shedding her jacket, Uma picks up her shower bag, shouldering it as she turns to her friend. “I’ll let you keep the picture if you help me study for the test tomorrow.”

“Can I send it around?” Lonnie glances up at her, “To the group chat.”

She pauses, but relents at her friends pointed stare. “Uh, sure. It’s a deal then?”

Snorting Lonnie rolls her eyes, meeting Uma’s pleased expression. “It’s a deal.”

The call wakes her up before she even realizes it that night. She frowns, looking out around the shore for the noise. She had been rowing with Melody until they had docked to stop the incessant ringing.

“Uma.”

She ignores the voice, too comfy to swat it away. The sand was warm.

“Uma!”

“What?” Eyes snapping open Uma growls at the disturbance, ready to yell some more before she sees Lonnie standing beside her bed with her phone in hand. Her eyes hurt at it’s brightness as the phone stops ringing and the room goes dark again. “What?”

“Ben’s calling you,” Lonnie hands the device over, “I think it’s important.”

Sitting up Uma rubs her eyes, groaning as the phone starts to ring again. Pressing the green button she brings it up to her ear. “What.”

“Jay just tried to take Fairy Godmother's wand from the museum.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmu on tumblr at somewhatmaybeokayomens !!! id love to hear what you have to say ! or any critiques!!! 
> 
> hope you liked the end!


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A deal goes down, and the AK's should be given a reward for dealing with these kids

“Fuck.” The tiredness vanishes as she throws off her covers, nearly tripping over her sheet as she looks for her shoes, unwrapping her braids with one hand. Lonnie turns on the lamp on the nightstand, already grabbing a jacket off the back of the door. Nodding her thanks Uma tugs on her shoes, her comfiest pair of runners and tugs the jacket on, halfway down the hall before she continues, “Are you fucking kidding me? What time is it?”

“Two thirty six. The alarms at the museum went off at one oh three.” Ben sounds as tired as she feels as she enters the elevator. “Audrey’s waiting for you downstairs.”

“Kay.”

A yawn forces its way out of her as she reaches the lobby. Audrey leans against the wall, eyes closed, a soft looking blue raincoat over top pink sleep shorts and a shirt saying “Beauty Sleep” on it.

Kicking her boot covered ankle lightly, Uma smiles at the other girl, covering another yawn with her arm. “Hey.”

“I fucking hate them.” Pulling her coat tighter Audrey falls in step with her as they pass the guards at the doors, shivering at the cool air outside.

They’re silent as they walk towards the main campus, eyes half open as they take the back access stairs to Ben’s office on the fourth floor. Pulling open the door Uma smiles thinly at the Crown Prince sitting at the desk, his hair a mess, dressed in a t-shirt and black sleep pants.

He gestures to the tray of drinks set up in the corner, head in his hand. “Thanks for coming.”

“What poor staff member is up at this hour?” Pouring herself a cup of coffee with too much cream and sugar Uma takes her seat, blinking back the urge to fall asleep in the warm office. Audrey sinks into her chair next to her, already sipping on her tea.

Ben laughs as he leans across his desk, shifting his computer to face them, the screen paused on a video. “A guard did. He insisted when he saw I couldn’t figure out the coffee maker.”

“Sounds just like you,” Uma teases. She nods at the screen with her cup, “Is that the tape?”

“Not quite,” Pressing play Ben sighs, “This is at eleven forty. The top of the girls dormitory.”

Frowning Uma watches the video. Nothing happens for a moment then a figure pulls itself up into frame, taking a moment to pause as they straighten and start across the rooftops with surprising grace. She can recognize that short curled hairstyle from a mile, and stares at Ben.

“Mal?”

Ben presses something and the video switches, and they watch as Mal appears at the edge of the frame, grasping a pipe as she finds a foothold on a windowsill. The person inside opens the window after a few seconds, and Mal disappears into the room. “Mal was seen entering Jay and Carlos’ dorm at eleven forty two. The on floor guards reported hearing a fight at eleven fifty, but when they knocked Jay said it was a movie. A minute later...” Despite the anger curdling in her stomach Uma stiffens as she watches Mal slip on the side of the building before she catches herself. Ben clicks again and Mal races across the girls dorm rooftop and swings herself over the side. “Mal goes back to her dorm and this happens.”

A figure crawls out of the boys dorm room, and the lithe figure can only be Jay as he scales the side all the way to the ground. Ben clicks through several more cameras as Jay appears on them, darting through the shadows until he reaches the museum. Picking the lock they watch as the teen avoids the security guard and reaches the wand. He paces the floor as he stares at it before ducking under the bars and reaching out for it, setting off the alarms.

“Why are we sitting here then?” Audrey asks, “We could just notify the police.”

Ben presses his lips together. “I asked the guards to report to me instead of my parents when it concerned the VK’s. Obviously Mal is up to something and she’s making the others do it for her.”

Uma sputters. “Up to something? No, Ben, she just tried to fucking take Fairy Godmother's wand.”

“I know,” Ben tries again, “Mal flirted with me the entire day during our tour, I knew she was up to something but I didn’t know it was this.”

“So what do we do?” Uma raises a hand. “We ask her nicely to stop? Why didn’t you say she flirted with you before? We could have done something.”

“Ben,” Grasping her boyfriend's hand Audrey sets her tea down on the desk, looking much more composed than Uma feels. “You wouldn’t have asked us here if you didn’t have a plan.”

The prince sighs, shaking his head. “I don’t know, honestly, but it’s been two days and if I send this to my parents the program is getting shut down by morning and these kids go back. I just want to try and help them. I do.”

“This is insane, Ben.”

Audrey pats his hand, shooting a glance at Uma. “It is, but we knew what we were getting into when we started this, right? Give them one more chance. Jay didn’t hurt anyone and Mal is obviously controlling the others. We can deal with that.”

“Then what do we tell your parents,” Taking a long drink of her coffee Uma points at the computer screen, “Your parents will immediately know it was the VK’s.”

“We’re going to have to get a hold on this before they do,” Ben glances between them as if looking for an answer. “I can assign him a personal guard.”

Uma shakes her head. King Beast was smart, he could smell a lie from half a conference room away and unlike Queen Belle he had his temper. She taps her cup as she thinks back to earlier in the day. Carlos had spent most of the time in the business hall once and afterwards Jay had been off her radar after she shot down his flirt and he had backed off.

Audrey finishes her tea and gets up to pour another, talking over her shoulder. “What if we said we hired him? My grandmother hires people to test things all of the time.”

Uma snaps her fingers. “Yes! He’s a free runner right? We can hire him for security.”

“It was something else,” Audrey frowns, “Parkour? Is that it?”

Ben writes something down on his notepad, turning his computer to face him again. He lets out a breath as he exits the videos and types something. The exhaustion on his face softens as he starts talking, “I can explain that I hired him to test the security, but I can also say that I wanted to see if he would actually try to take anything. He didn’t so it’ll play off.”

“You’ll still get in shit.” Uma points out.

Ben laughs, “When don’t I?”

Audrey rolls her eyes at them as Ben explains the plan to them. He prints off an official document stating he planned the entire thing, changing the print time to yesterday afternoon just after they had finished the tests. She takes their phones and makes a group chat dedicated to the plan, turning back the times on their phones before filling up the chat with useless chatter and planning.

Finishing off the last messages Uma shoots a look at Ben almost an hour later. He’s still typing something on his computer, though it looks half assed even to her as he curses under his breath at something. “You know, if your parents weren’t so nosy I wouldn’t have to do this.”

“But they are.” He smiles wryly at her as she hands his phone, checking the time before he pockets it. “They still have that tracking app on me.”

She feels her brows raise. “Really? I thought you stopped that last year.”

“No that was a different thing,” Ben explains, “They gave me a new phone that copied everything I did to their computers so they could see what I did. I think I still have it to be honest.”

“You’re going to be King soon!” she protests, “They can’t just keep you leashed like some dog.”

“They’re just worried.” Uma rolls her eyes, not believing his soft “excuse” voice but knowing better than to bring it up, she ignores it. They could tackle his parents once they were out of the fire and frying pan. “Besides, they let me have more freedom than last year so they don’t even notice the tricks you guys taught me. I think they’re convinced I never do anything wrong.”

“If only they knew,” Uma laughs. She nods at his girlfriend curled up on the couch, where she had laid down halfway through Uma’s group chat making, huffing about sleep. “Should we leave her? I can go grab some guards to grab Jay.”

“Yes please,” he says, “She has a test in Grammar tomorrow about proper grammar. She’ll kill me if I ruin it for her.”

Grabbing her own coat Uma trails after Ben to the hall. This early in the morning it's empty from its usual bustling offices and interns fluttering between assignments and coffee breaks. Ben waves her on as he stops to talk to the nearest guard. Heading down the hall to the kitchen she smiles at the guard sitting in the corner, “Hey.”

“Morning, Your Highness.”

“Morning.”

Grabbing a muffin she puts it on the microwave, leaning against the counter as she waits for the timer. Ben enters with almost silent steps, clicking on the coffee pot as he grabs her empty cup from her hands and sets it on the counter. “So we are just waiting for the guards to get Jay."

"Waking him up with guards?" Uma snorts, "That’s something I would do to be honest."

Ben shrugs, a smile playing at his lips as she grabs her newly heated muffin from the microwave, buttering it quickly. "He did wake us up at two in the morning, so I decided he could use a scare."

Uma laughs. "No! You're kidding."

"No," He shakes his head, "I told them to be strict and not answer any questions."

"You're a cruel bastard." Pouring herself a new coffee she nods to the hall, biting into her muffin. "Let's go in ah meetin' woom."

"And there's the manners Atlantica is famous for."

Whacking him she follows him to the meeting room across from them, setting her plate down just as the elevator dings down the hall. Looking up she watches as the group appears, two guards holding each of Jay's arms. He’s dressed in ragged looking pants and a shirt, his hair falling freely around his face as he’s pushed into the room.

Jay eyes them as the door closes behind the last guard before taking his seat. He looks surprisingly calm for someone who just got woken up by the royal guard and dragged across campus in the middle of the night. “What’s this for?”

“We know you tried to steal the wand from the museum,” Ben says, “We have you caught on surveillance cameras that place you as the only person at the scene.” Jay doesn’t panic at Ben’s words but Uma catches the almost imperceptible twitch in his hand as he leans back in his chair. She glances at Ben, watching him slide comfortably into his Crown Prince attitude from over the rim of her cup. “Now on a regular basis we would have alerted the police and you would be arrested by now but we would like to offer you a deal instead.”

“A deal?” Jay glances at Uma, “What, you want me to steal something for you?”

She snorts. “Yeah, my will to live please, my mom’s got it locked up at home.”

“No,” Ben gives her a displeased look before sliding their forged document over to the VK. “We know Mal forced you to steal the wand, so we would like to give you the benefit of the doubt and keep this incident between us so we can continue the program.”

Jay frowns as he reads over the document. He frowns at the page, brows knitting together as he glances between them. “I don’t get it. You want to cover this up for the sake of this program?”

“Look, we know Mal forced you to steal the wand so we want to give you another chance,” Uma explains, “Don’t steal anything else and we’ll be cool but if you do get caught stealing then you’re getting shipped back.”

“All I have to do is say-” Jay looks at the paper, dark eyes scanning the lines. “You hired me to steal it to check security?”

Ben’s smile is harsh in the artificial light, all teeth. “You got it.”

“When do we start?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is getting posted because it's super short, and I'm finished editing it tbh 
> 
> hope you liked it! as always, drop a comment and a critique!!!!


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late post but I had a busy day!

Audrey smiles at them as they near the giant doors, flowers and vines atwist over the dark wood. Two guards stand at attention on either side of her, ceremonial spears held in one hand, dressed in uncomfortable red and gold uniforms. They don’t turn as Audrey sweeps an elegant hand down her skirt in a nervous tick.

“You guy’s ready?” she asks.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

In his new outfit Jay can almost pass as a regular student, the ragged clothes replaced with an off the rack outfit Audrey had ordered. A plain tshirt and black jeans, and two cheap necklaces Uma had dug up from the depths of her jewelry box and a chain to go on his hip. He insisted on keeping the old boots he had but Uma convinced him to remove his fingerless gloves and replace the old bracelets with shinier ones from Uma.

In the store he had swiped eight different pieces before Audrey had caught on to him and ordered him to put everything back. Still, the smile on his face didn’t disappear even when Ben had given him a lecture on the ride over and Uma had come to terms with his obvious joy. None of them needed the reminder of their privilege by the press, but something about Jay’s awe as he looked at the first shirt made them pause as if he had never seen a t-shirt before.

Audrey smiles tightly at the VK. “Have you ever met royalty before?”

Jay laughed, looking at the princess. “Yeah, Evie came with us, remember?” Uma stifled a laugh at the sight of Audrey’s brows jumping. If Jay noticed her expression he doesn’t say, looking at the double doors with wide eyes. “This is so fucking fancy, do you guys design everything like this?”

“Don’t swear,” Audrey huffs, “Did you remember anything of what we explained to you on the way here?”

“Don’t swear, don’t look Beast in the eye but I can look at Belle but not for too long or else Beast is going to throw a chair at me, I don’t talk unless they address me and I always call them Your Majesty.”

Uma pauses for a moment, appraising the taller teenager. “Can you bow?”

“No, but I can fart on command. Does that help?” Jay laughs, “I mean, I can but Evie never corrected us about it.”

“Evie doesn’t count,” Audrey waves her hands, suddenly snappy, “So you can’t bow? Ben, why didn’t you teach him? He’s about to face your parents and he can’t even do the first step.”

Uma stifles a laugh at the polite look on Ben’s face as he smiles at his girlfriend. “I never thought about it to be honest,” he says, “I’m sure it will be fine, Audrey.”

Uma ends Audrey’s reply with a crafted acrylic nail motioning for silence. Ever the perfect princess Audrey straightens even further, “Don’t.” says Uma. Turning next the finger points at VK . “Don’t bow or do, I don’t give a fuck about what you do but you follow the other rules okay? They won’t expect you to know everything so play it off that way.”

“Sure thing.”

“And if you fucking steal anything I will beat you to death with the hand you use.”

Jay flashes a wide smile at her as the doors open and the attendant steps out, holding the door open. “You can go inside.”

Gesturing Ben to go with Audrey, Uma follows with Jay at her side. The room is walking into a dream, alabaster walls decorated with gold and fantastically carved beams. A giant crystal chandelier hangs in the middle of the room, matching the sets of golden lamps on the walls. The carpet is a whirl of patterns blue and gold mixed into red. Ben stiffens as he lays his eyes on his parents. His dad frozen at the window, his sharp features highlighted by the departing sun. A part of Uma wonders how long he has held that pose waiting for them to appear. He glances at her and turns to the Queen.

Queen Belle holds up a commanding hand as the doors close behind them, her eyes tracking over a document at the desk. She too is framed by the window, for her; it casts a corona befitting a royal. The document is out of place amidst the gold of the room and the painfully plain brown desk is filled to the brim with photo frames and stacks of books, even more stacks of documents covering the rest of the visible surface. “Just a moment please.”

Ben gives them an embarrassed smile as he inclines his head. “Of course, Mother.”

“Oh, Ben.” Letting out a soft sound at the sight of her son, the Queen rises from the cluttered desk she’s sitting at. “You’re here, wonderful.”

Uma’s heart pounds in her chest as she forces herself into a curtsey. She feels Jay bow next to her, not daring to look. At the third count she straightens with a smile.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again so soon, Your Majesty,” Audrey says. “I hope you’re keeping well.”

The Queen’s smile sharpens as she looks at her son, mirth dancing in her eyes. “If I had my way, you would be here more than for just dinner.”

Audrey’s laugh joins Ben’s as he inclines his head. “Yes, Mother, but I’m afraid school is important.”

“Oh, you’re too smart for your own good,” she says, stepping past them, “Come sit by the fireplace, it’s much nicer than any of the meeting rooms. You would think our Council might fall over if they saw outside a window sometimes.” The Queen sinks into a chair, glancing over at her husband. “Darling, Ben’s here.”

“I heard.”

The Queen smiles, looking to one of the attendants at the door. “Please, fetch us some tea.”

“No tea.” Turning away from the window, the King waves a large hand at the staff member as he walks forward. He stops at the edge of the seating area, one hand in the pocket of his pants. “Is this the boy?”

The Queen nods, her smile sharpening.“Of course.” She rests her weight on the golden arm of her chair as she looks to Jay. He remains perfectly still beside Uma, and she idly wonders where he got the talent as the Queen continues. “I never asked, would you prefer something else to drink other than tea? We have mid afternoon snacks ready too, if you would like to eat something.”

Beast narrows his eyes at his wife. “Belle.”

“Yes?”

In his own chair Ben presses his lips together. Uma’s back aches from sitting so tensely already but next to her Jay seems more amused by the show than anything else. She doesn’t risk a look at Audrey, knowing it would be bad even for her as the King gestures for the staff.

Belle raises a questioning eyebrow at them. “Would you like anything? You must have had a long drive here.”

“Anything?” Fucking Jay, she thinks. “Your Majesty?”

The Queen laughs gently, “Of course.”

 _I’m going to beat him to death so hard his mother screams in pain._ “I had this orange juice the other day, it was super good but I don’t know what it’s called. Do you have anything of that?” Jay averts his eyes and Uma shoves her anger down at the sight of his starting acting. He ducks his head with a nervous smile, “Please, and thank you, Your Majesty.”

“An orange juice,” the Queen instructs, “And a little tray of everything, with some tea as well.” The serving man nods and turns away, making a quiet exit.

“Thank you for meeting us today,” Ben says, “I wasn’t sure-”

“Sure? Sure on what boy? Sure on how we would take the information of your new projects breaking into the museum?” The King’s voice is a low growl as he turns, “Ben, we allowed you to do this because we thought you were ready.”

“And he is,” Belle continues, “Honey, please sit, you’re going run a hole through the floor with your pacing.”

The doors open just as the King takes a seat, his large frame filling the dainty couch. Rubbing his forehead he watches as the trays are placed on the table between them. In his seat Jay gives Audrey a questioning glance but at her almost imperceptible nod he remains still.

“So you must be Jay then,” The Queen picks up a cup of tea, blowing on it gently before taking a sip. “How have you found Auradon so far?”

Shifting in his seat Jay laughs nervously, rubbing his hands together. “It’s hot,” he says, “And everyone is really...Happy.”

“Well, we strive to make our citizens happy,” Belle smiles, “Which means we try not to set off alarms in the middle of the night, either. Would you like to explain yourself?”

“Ah,” Ben holds out a hand for Jay to stop, eyes darting to his father, “I hired him as a thief to test out security for our important artifacts.”

“And why did we not know about this beforehand,” King Beast asks, “This isn’t some little game, Ben, he could have stolen any number of items that the museum holds including Maleficent's scepter.”

Uma sees Jay stiffen out of the corner of her eye as she looks at Ben. She holds back a frown at the uncertainty on the VK’s face, unsure if it’s real or an act. “As much as it helped to ascertain the measure of security around the museum, I think it’s also proved that the VK’s aren’t planning anything.”

“Yes,” Ben nods at her as he talks, “Of course, the artifacts inside the museum would have helped the Isle if they had chosen to use them but Jay didn’t take them. He didn’t even look at them.”

“You put the people in danger, Benjamin,” The King protests, “If you thought something was failing then you should have just fixed it.”

“If we are to continue this program I wanted to ensure that any attempts would be stopped,” Ben explains, “Jay was the best thief on the Isle and I needed his expertise.”

“If I had help I could have emptied the museum within the hour,” Jay cuts in, “I wouldn’t need the wand with Mal here to control the scepter.”

Uma winces as King Beast grunts and rises to his feet, and for a horrible second she sees violence a moment away but he simply stalks out of the room, the door closing behind him with the sound of finality. Wide eyed she looks at Ben, seeing him staring at his lap, hands clasped together. “Ah,” she clears her throat looking as the Queen, “Excuse, Jay, he did not mean for his example to sound like that.”

“Oh, don’t worry about my husband,” Queen Belle rises and smoothes out her skirt as she looks at her son. “I will go speak with him, but have something to eat before heading back to school, darling. It was nice seeing you again, Audrey.”

She trades a look with Audrey as the Queen disappears through the doors after her husband. The pink clad princess purses her lips together, eyes hardening as Jay shifts between them, reaching for one of the biscuits. “Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“Why?” Frowning at her Jay’s mouth tugs up in amusement as he takes a bite of the treat, “I thought that went good.”

“It went for shit.” Uma slumps back into the cushions, staring up at the white and gold ceiling. “Why the fuck did you say anything? That was not smart and he didn’t need to know any of that.”

Jay frowns at her. “About the scepter? Mal couldn’t control it anyways, it’s not even the real one.”

“What?”

Ben stares at Jay but the VK is busy rooting through the food before them, murmuring something to himself in a different language as he picks up his glass of orange juice. “Yeah, it’s not the real one. Malefiecent has it on the Isle still. She walks around with it all the time.”

Audrey shakes her head, panic seeping into her voice. “No, we have the real one. You saw it. We got it from her when she was arrested.”

“You mean resurrected,” the amusement slides of Jay’s face like oil on water, a brow arching at Audrey with impatience. “And it’s fake. If it was real you’d have people committing evil acts all the time, it wouldn’t stay on display in your fucking museum before someone would grab it. Use your brain Audrey. Evil does not sleep.”

“How is it on the Isle then? Why hasn’t she taken the barrier down?” Ben asks.

“Mal says it’s not actually that powerful, it just holds power like a battery and draws from the world around it,” Jay explains, “But it was created by corrupt energy to begin with. It waits. It waits for it’s user to ask a question and then it reinforces the worst side of all people out into the open, sorta like a evil serum except you hide all the bad things you do and so the half truth becomes a lie, the lie a theft, the theft a murder and all begins with corruption of a simple truth. I’ll tell you it makes Mal’s life a bitch to deal with when her mom gets up her ass about something.”

Uma waves her hands. “Wait, you’re telling that the Dragon’s Eye isn’t actually that powerful? Malefiecent used it to curse Audrey’s mom and no one could break it.”

“No, but it does aid Malefiecent’s power. Fae magic is hard to break when it’s made with a strong emotion like hate and the corrupt love to hate.” Jay talks around the tea biscuit in his mouth, three more in his hands like he’s unsure of which one to eat first. He glances at them as he reaches across the table, his bracelets clinking against the fine porcelaina he grabs the Queen’s cup and drinks the rest of the tea inside. He makes a face as he sets it down, lips turned up in a grimace. “Remind me not to drink any of your teas, you guys are shit at making it.”

“Jay.”

“What? Malefiecent is fae, she doesn’t need her scepter to do powerful magic but it sure helps, or she could do it all without any help at all. It just focuses and enhances the magic when she’s casting. That’s what Mal says, powerful magic is hard to control apparently. Mal doesn’t need anything to do spells either, neither does Evie.”

Audrey stiffens on the other side of the VK, eyes widening as she looks at her boyfriend. Ben blinks in shock at the implications of his words. He glances at the doors, rising to his feet, straightening his blazer as he nods to the exit. “Let’s finish this conversation somewhere more private back at the school. We have a lot of things to discuss.”

Following Ben, Uma narrows her eyes at the biscuits in Jay's hands. “Leave the food or leave your hand, it’s your choice.”

“What?”

“Leave it,” she orders, “There’s plenty at the school.”

“It’s not like they fucking need them.”

Ignoring his comment she grabs his arm tugging as they exit the room. The guards don’t flinch as they pass, but Uma knows there will be a report tonight on the Queen’s desk tonight detailing all they heard and saw. Ben seems for once to pick up the silence as a warning and follow her pace, as she leads them through the warren of halls.They duck into a smaller passageway a few minutes later, the designs gone replaced with plain white, leading to a thin staircase with a single door at the bottom. They descend. The wet spring air washes over her as they step outside, and she curses her heels as she stumbles for a moment on the gravel before catching herself.She recognizes the side entrance from Ben’s stories, the tall iron wrought fence sitting twenty feet from them, vines ensnared around the metal bars.

Ben glances around the driveway. “Come on, Reemus.”

Appearing from the back of the palace, their black sedan pulls up to a stop in front of them. Shoving Jay inside after Audrey, Uma climbs into the backseat, the door hardly closed behind her before they’re pulling away.

“Thanks you, Reemus,” Ben breathes.

“Just doing my job, Your Highness.”

“Well,” Uma bites back a smile as she looks at Audrey, “That couldn’t have gone worse.”

Ben snorts from the front seat as they break out in laughter, filling up the silence. “I’m pretty sure the only way it could have been worse is if Jay tried to steal an ashtray.”

“You mean this one?” Jay grins as he holds up the glass bowl, the gold inlay gleaming in the dim light of the car.

“Oh Jay, you fucking-” Uma shakes with laughter as Audrey squeaks at the sight of the ashtray. "I'll pay you twenty bucks for that!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> critique! 
> 
> hope you liked it! this is the first chapter that has been majorly (and i mean MAJORLY) edited, tell me what you think!


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is a long one to make up for the last two! i figured out rich text was a thing lmao, so im updating the chapters with it!!
> 
> introducing Harry and Uma interaction!!!!!

“How’d the palace go?” 

Uma slides into step with Jane as they enter the crowded hallway. She had made it back in time for lunch, deciding to go to her classes instead of sleeping in her dorm like she wanted. Shifting her books onto her hip she sighs, brushing a braid behind her ear. “It went for shit, and then it got worse,” she says, “Jay stole an ashtray.” 

“He did what?” Jane gasps, placing a hand on Uma’s arm as she looks around. “Uma! That’s illegal!” 

“I know,” she grins, “But it was hilarious. Dude also stuffed like twenty biscuits in his pockets without us noticing. It was fucking hilarious. I’ve never seen Audrey look so offended when he offered her one.” Jane bites her lip against the smile on her face, no doubt picturing the look on Audrey’s face. 

Grinning to herself Uma pauses as a familiar figure catches her attention further down the hall. Harry leans against the lockers talking to Gil as the blond teenager roots through his locker, laughing. The two boys match with their ragged outfits, their fellow students giving them clear space as they pass. Harry's pirate captain smile broadens as he gestures, his hand falling on top of the sword now strapped to his hip. 

Jane glances over her shoulder as she opens her locker with a huff. “I don’t know why my mom gave them their swords back,” she says, “I don’t trust them at all.” 

“I get the feeling.” Uma frowns as Harry snaps his teeth at a passing student, laughing as she scurries. “Have they been to any classes?” 

“No,” Jane closes her locker, shaking her head up at her, “They’ve been ditching all day. The other ones are doing it too, Mal got into a fight during domestic science then left.”

The rumour mill in Auradon Prep was handy at the best of times and better at its worst. Uma had once passed a rumour in first period and was congratulated by six people on her past dalliance before the third period had ended. If Jane knew about Mal, she didn’t doubt the school forums were blowing up with much more vivid chatter. Sighing to herself she resolves to check them out later, after she deals with the VK’s. 

Jane pauses, her nervous glance telling enough. “I have to go to Grammar, Audrey’s here right?” 

“Yeah.” Harry, down the hall, notices Uma’s attention with a wink and smile. The sight of his irritating grin sends annoyance surging up Uma’s spine. It should be illegal to look that hot and be a problem at the same time. “She’ll definitely want to talk.” 

“Don’t stir up trouble,” Jane warns Uma.

Waving her away Uma crosses the hall as the minute bell rings. The two pirates lounge at Gil’s locker, their conversation slowing as Uma stops in front of them. Gil’s outfit has changed, a leather sleeve buckled over his forearm almost reaching his elbow, his netted orange shirt replaced with a bright orange and black shirt. Harry’s jacket sleeves are back, though she doubts it’s about fashion and more about the tattoos. He looks better today, his hair less of a sullen mess, and thank god the midnight black kohl is gone.

Did they tell them they had to cover tattoos? She doesn’t remember saying anything about it but maybe Ben had done it when he walked them back to their dorms. 

“Look who rewards us with her presence,” Harry smiles down at her, “Ye need somethin’, lass?” 

Uma’s brow lifts at his flirty tone, decidedly unimpressed. “You’re skipping classes today then?” 

“No,” Harry grins again, while leaning against the lockers. “Ye canny skip what ye never agreed to.” The final bell rings above them

“Yes you can and you are,” she says. Focusing on the easier of the two she looks at Gil, noting his eyes flickering to Harry. “Gil, what class do you have?” 

“Uh,” he frowns, “Math.” 

“I’ll walk you,” she points to the math textbook in his locker, the spine still unbroken, a deep red notebook beside it. “Grab your things.” 

“I don’t-” 

“Grab them.”

The blond teenager stiffens at the sound of her royal command tone, reaching for the books before Harry grabs his arm and stops him. She meets his eyes, ready to tell him off but the words die in her throat. This close to him she can smell the familiar scent of the sea that lingers on his clothes, as if he had soaked his jacket in salt water before putting it on. He’s bigger than she remembers, his broad shoulders dwarfing her as he steps forward the hilt of his sword brushing against her ribs.

“Ye don’t tell him what to do.” Her heart hammers harder, at the wicked smile that carves itself on his face. “Ye understand?” 

“Yes.” 

Harry’s smile widens as he licks his lips, watching her step back. “Good, then we have an’ understandin’, sea witch.” 

“I’m not a sea witch,” Harry’s eyes glint as she scrambles to catch herself, “My mom’s the sea witch. I’m not.” 

“And then what are you?” 

Uma frowns at the lack of answers that come to mind. Her mom focused on the physical things, little magics and curses, bound to contracts and promises most of the time instead of anything godly Uncle Triton showed off with. Nobody called her a witch because no witches could bring in a storm like she could, nor could they do the complicated spells needed for transforming between forms as easily as she could and as often too.

Harry takes her silence as an answer, spinning away from her with a smirk. “Let’s go, Gil.” 

Her magic boils underneath her skin, responding to fear and desire as the two walk away and disappear up the staircase. She kicks a locker as she loses sight, shoving her magic down before she breaks another water fountain like she was ten again. “Fucking pirates. I hate, fucking pirates.” 

Ten minutes later and Merryweather gives her a stern look, as she enters the sixth period late. In the long line of stern looks Uma had gotten used to, it was a two out of ten and nothing of worry about. Uma ignores it, dropping into her seat with a scowl. “Uma, stay after class please.”

“Oh, great”, she whispers, then “Kay.” 

Her eyes narrow at the sight of Carlos hunched over engrossed in his notebook, pencil scratching furiously against the page. His age difference is clear, his skin free of stubble, his figure missing the broad shoulders and the height of the other boys. His jacket is thrown over the chair and he is wearing the same t-shirt as yesterday, a solid four on the scale. A jagged set of scars stand out on his freckled skin wrapping almost around his forearm. She feels her stomach drop at the sight of the injury, wondering what you had to do to get something as awful as that. 

“Carlos.”

The young boy's head snaps up from his notebook at his name. “Yeah?” 

“Can you tell me what you need to open up a bank account?” Merryweather asks. 

Carlos’ pencil halts on the page as he frowns. “A bank account?” 

“Yes, please.” 

“Ah.” 

Uma watches him glance at his page, then back at the teacher. The students laugh at his obvious confusion, Chad not bothering to hide his joy at the VK’s hesitation. Uma suppresses the immediate urge to snap at him. “Come on, didn’t they teach you anything over there?” 

She feels her scowl deepen as he high fives the two boys next to him with a snicker, their yellow and blue tourney jackets standing out. Merryweather looks at Carlos expectantly but the VK isn’t looking at her anymore as he resumes whatever he’s doing in his notebook. He presses himself further into his desk as another student answers, his head now resting on the wood. As the bell rings, he’s the first one up, slipping out the door before most are up from their desks with impressive speed. 

Grabbing her books, Uma walks up to Merryweather’s desk. “Sorry about being late, I had some problems getting here.” 

“And can you tell me why that is?” 

Uma presses her lips together as she thinks for a moment before shrugging. Fucking pirates. “I was trying to get the new VK students to class but they decided not to.” 

Merryweather straightens with a frown. “The new..? Ah, yes, of course. Well that should be fine then. Do try to be on time from now on though.” 

Exiting the class Uma perks up as she sees Audrey waiting outside, her books clasped to her chest. “We have to talk.” 

“What?” Not waiting for her to say anything else Audrey loops their arms together, pulling her along. Uma frowns as she falls into step with her friend. “What happened?” 

Audrey gives her a pointed look, annoyance written on her face. “I should be asking you that.” 

Opening her mouth to retort, Uma falls silent as her magic curls around Audrey. Fear drifts off her friend. As they reach the back hallway staircases, Uma knows exactly what Audrey’s scared about.

Audrey lets her go, placing her books down on the floor before turning to her. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Tell you what?” 

“Jane said Harry threatened you in the halls before class. Why didn’t you say anything?” Audrey says, “No no, better yet, why did I get photos on the forums of you two? Do you know what that looks like?”

She should have known Jane wouldn’t leave her alone, the girl was one of the sweetest people in the school. “He didn’t threaten me,” she explains, “He just scared me and I didn’t do anything because he’s new.” 

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” Audrey snaps, “Uma, it doesn't matter if he scared you or if he threatened you! Why didn’t you tell anybody?” 

“It really wasn’t that big of a deal. I messed up and ordered Gil around and Harry didn’t like that.” 

Audrey throws her hands in the air, “He still scared you! Uma he can’t do things like that!” 

“Fine,” Uma concedes, “Next time I’ll tell you but it really wasn't that big of a deal. He didn’t threaten me at all, I just psyched myself out.” _I didn’t know whether to kiss him or kill him_ , she thinks. 

Audrey softens her face with a sad smile, pulling Uma in for a hug. “You’re such a drama queen,” she jokes before pulling back, keeping her hands on Uma’s shoulders. “Are you okay though? The only reason I’m not going to Fairy Godmother right now is because I trust you, alright?” 

Uma laughs at her friend’s warning look. “Yes, I’m fine. I promise.” 

“Good, because otherwise I’d have to kill them, and this is a new skirt.” 

_Well, as long as it is not a kiss_ , Uma thinks, giving her friend a onceover, noting the skirt from their meeting earlier but she had switched out her beautiful pink blouse for one of her cardigans. She pauses as Audrey stiffens and taps her. “Oh, I totally forgot, but I was hoping to order material for Evie.” 

Uma raises her eyebrows at the mention of the VK. So far, Audrey had nothing but disdain for Evil Queen's daughter, going as far as avoiding talking to her when they were with the group yesterday. “Evie. The one you want to throw under a bus.” 

“Yes, Evie,” Audrey rolls her eyes, “She fainted in the staircases at lunch. She’s wearing all that stupid leather everywhere, with the awful jacket zipped up to her chin, in those heels of hers too.” 

“Is she okay?” Uma gapes at her friend, “You should have said something!”

“I told Ben,” the irony isn’t lost on Audrey as she pointedly looks at Uma, “She twisted her ankle a bit but she’s fine. We got talking and I told her that I could get her something lighter to wear other than leather.” 

How Audrey could switch opinions on people astonished Uma. She listens as Audrey tells how she discovered Evie made all her own clothes. In the end she agrees, not needing to listen to Audrey’s strong defense. In addition to giving Audrey a penchant for blues and pinks, Queen Leah gave Audrey the ability to talk herself into anything she wanted. It was a great talent for Audrey, but a pain in the ass to argue against.

“Fine fine fine,” Uma sighs, “What colours?” 

The pink coloured princess smiles, pleased with herself, again. “Blue, black and red.” 

“Just those?” Uma questions before recalling the sight of the self proclaimed Isle Princess. “Oh right. Y’know, for being trapped on the Isle, the VK’s all have a theme. It’s impressive.” 

“If it wasn’t made out of literal garbage,” Audrey laughs. She picks up her books, glancing around the empty hallway, checking the time on her phone. “Want to go to the tourney field? They’re doing tryouts at five.” 

“At five?” The tourney had always been the first team on the field no matter the day. Hell, Uma saw them starting practices in the middle of the summer. “Why five?” 

Audrey shrugs. “I guess they want to see if the VK’s will be good. Do you think the pirates will join it?” 

“No, Lonnie wants to have them on ROAR instead,” Uma shrugs, “I don’t see why not.” 

Mal and Evie pass as they drop their books off in Audrey’s locker. Both of them look nervous their chins raised high as they scan the people around them. Mal is wearing a lighter jacket, violently pink scaled sleeves, her hair a wilding mass of violet curls. Beside her Evie is wearing a high zipped jacket with a cape hanging off her shoulders. A small tiara has been placed atop the v-braids in her hair. It is a delicate, spider web of cultured metalwork and it speaks of wealth and age.

Mal glances at them, brows raised. “What do you want now?” 

“Hello,” Uma nods towards the jackets, “Aren’t you hot?” No wonder Evie had collapsed in the staircase as dressed up as she was. “It’s only gonna to get hotter, y’know.” 

“That’s fine,” Mal shrugs, “You guys have indoor cooling systems, remember? Carlos made similar ones last year to keep the buildings hot. Pretty shitty of you guys to keep those away from us.” 

Audrey's brows raise, “What are you talking about? We don’t need heaters here.” 

“Really?” Evie questions. 

She blinks widely at Uma, as if trying to convey her curiosity through a pleasantly blank stare. The porcelain doll on heroin chic. _Fuck_ , Uma thinks, _She’s fucking creepy_. “Yeah,” the sea princess gestures skyward, “We only have summer and a rain season. Why did you need heating systems on the Isle?” 

Mal’s eyes dance with a touch of fire as she smiles. “It appears you kept us in a perpetual winter. It’s never hotter than ten degrees.” 

“That’s fucking stupid.” 

Uma feels Audrey’s glare before she finishes speaking. _For all his shit talk of villains, King Beast sure had an interesting way to go about it all. Never hotter than ten degrees? What kind of jerk do you have to be to do something so petty?_

“Shame,” Audrey closes her locker with a resounding slam. “Perhaps if your parents didn’t try to kill everyone then maybe you would have had nicer weather.” 

Evie’s brows twitch in response, linking her arm through Mal’s as the fae laughs. Watching them head for the main hall, Uma turns to her friend, smacking her arm. “What the fuck, Audrey.” 

“They’re-” Heel tapping against the ground Audrey purses her lips together, scrunching her face. Uncrossing her arms she tucks her hair behind her ear, “Mal is just annoying, she acts like she’s so much better than us.”

“You can’t,” Uma hisses, “You’re a part of this plan too!” 

“I do not like her. I don’t. Mal can go - fall into a pool somewhere for all I care.” 

Uma rolls her eyes at her friend’s dramatics. “You’re just hangry, for fucks sake. Let’s get you food before Ben comes along and you kill him too.” 

“I do not get hangry.” 

“Yeah sure,” Uma snorts, pushing Audrey in the direction of the mess hall, “Tell that to the fucking dragon that tried to rip Mal to pieces three seconds ago.” 

They arrive back at the tourney field in time to catch Jane sitting on the bleachers, in her trademark blue dress. She looks up as Audrey’s heels clang on the metal, “Oh, hey guys! I thought you’d be at practice with the other cheerleaders today.” 

On cue the group of girls with the high ponytail look wave at the sight of their captain from the middle of the field. Angela, Audrey’s double in everything except hair, seems at home as she calls the team to go through another set. 

Sitting next to Jane, Audrey shakes her head. “No, it’s tumbling practice today and I hurt my shoulder last week so I decided not to go.” 

“Fuck,” Uma laughs, “A hurt shoulder? I wouldn’t be able to leave magic practice unless I lost a limb.” 

Audrey clicks her tongue. “But you have ten limbs under the water, so you can afford to lose a few.” 

Jane laughs at Uma’s offended expression. “You shouldn’t be so mean to Uma, Auds!” 

“Don’t call me “Auds”,” Audrey nods at Jane’s new hairstyle, the bob now replaced by long layered curls that falling past her shoulders. By the look on Audrey’s face she knows exactly who did it. “So, where’d the new hair come from?” 

Jane jumps in surprise, hands raising to her hair as if she forgot it. “Oh right, well, Mal found me in the bathroom between periods and she wants to be friends and she helped fix my hair too.” 

“Mal did?” 

Uma frowns at the idea of Maleficent’s daughter having magic but Jane waves her concerns away. Her skin shimmers in the sunlight as she smiles at Uma, her face sharper than before, cheekbones higher, and her eyes bigger. Uma’s magic stirs at the brush of fae magic against her skin, but Jane doesn’t seem to notice, curling a strand of her new hair around her finger. “It’s fine, she said she can’t do anything bigger than hair at the moment, though she did have a spell book.” 

“A spell book.” 

The idea of Mal having fae powers wasn’t hard, it was almost laughable to think she didn’t. Spell books had been banned for use in Auradon since Beast had established the new kingdom. Of course there was always magic, and even Beast couldn’t stop it with all his mighty yelling. Fairy Godmother would never allow the use of magic for those who weren’t born to it, but she regulated the magic that was passed through bloodlines.

Audrey nudges Jane in question. “How did that tour with the pirates go, by the way?” 

“Oh,” Jane flushes, glancing at her lap, “They’re really nice actually. Uh, Gil, Gaston’s son, explained how they usually had school on the Isle. It was super strange but apparently some teachers don’t hold classes some days.” 

“Really?” Audrey frowns, “That doesn’t seem good at all.” 

Jane nods. “I know right? I don’t think either of them notice Harry’s magic either. He practically glows in the sunlight like Mom does sometimes.” 

“Magic?” Uma looks at Jane with a frown. “Harry doesn’t practice magic.” 

“Can’t you see it?” Jane’s magic flutters in the breeze, and Uma pauses as it dances around the brunette’s eyelashes. Unlike her own sea magic, Jane’s was newer. Different and based on the traced past of the natural world instead of the forced currents of words and gestures. It was dangerous and beautiful at all moments. “Maybe his mom was a halfing or something. It’s a part of him, I thought you would notice, Uma.”

A sound catches her attention as she opens her mouth to reply. Turning around Uma frowns. A group of friends sit on the far corner away, homework set on their laps as they talk. She pats Jane silent as it sounds again, spotting the source of the noise between the bleacher seats. 

Leaning back with her, Jane frowns, “What?” 

“Chad.” 

The only Charming kid stands in his practice uniform under the bleachers, his bag over one shoulder. His blond curls flop over his forehead as someone approaches, pocketing his phone as he beams. “Hey, Evie.”

Evie waves demurely as she stops in front of him, hands clasped together on the strap of her small box purse that sits at her hip, a heart shaped lock holding the lid shut. From her position across from them Uma wonders how Evie can stand the humidity now that they’re far from the air conditioned classrooms. “Hi.” 

“Is everyone at home as pretty as you?” 

Uma wants to punch that smile off Chad’s face as he reaches forward and grabs one of Evie’s hands, his other hand grabbing the beam above his head. She trades a look with Audrey in disgust as Evie’s flushes, her smile sending alarm bells through the princesses heads. None of them had a problem with Chad, but they had all heard about his exploits as the self made Prince of Douchiness.

“I like to think I’m the fairest of them all,” Evie says, “Are you an only child?” 

“Totally,” Chad smiles, “My mom and dad were too busy to have more kids anyways.” Evie laughs again, high pitched and [ flirtatious ](https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&sxsrf=ALeKk02vUtfLaZwe7JtxyyXOlr8A2xfupQ:1595183969513&q=flirtatious&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiapequ-9nqAhUJknIEHV4yCw0QkeECKAB6BAgPECc) as she steps eagerly towards the blond prince. Chad turns his head just as she opens her mouth. “You really nailed that chemistry question today.” 

“He wouldn’t,” Audrey breathes.

Audrey rolls her eyes at the sound of Chad’s douche voice being turned on but Uma doesn’t look away, watching as Evie stiffens. Chad continues, “You’re going to have all the nerds in love with you.” 

_You fucking prick_ , Uma thinks. 

“I’m not that smart,” Evie tries to laugh again, and Uma winces as she watches the blue haired girl struggle to maintain the smile, her tone never anything less than polite. “No, really, I’m not. But I’m really good at sewing, and cleaning like your mother, Cinderella. Without the ratty dress.” Holding up a hand she opens her purse, bringing out a small golden mirror. She smiles at Chad. “If I ask it where something is, it tells me.”

“Are you kidding me?” 

“No.” 

Grabbing the mirror he frowns at the cracked surface, his voice slowing down. “Where’s my cellphone?” 

Evie laughs. “It wont work for you, silly.” 

_Oh fuck,_ thinks Uma _,_ _of course she knows magic, her mom was no half rate magician either._

Uma watches as Chad steps closer. Evie straightens, clearly losing her fixed composure, anticipation or is it fear showing on her face. She tries to take her mirror back. Alarm bells scream in Uma’s head. Evie freezes as Chad grabs her hand, and her blue lined eyes widen. Beside her Uma, can feel Audrey’s hatred boiling. She suddenly relieved that Audrey had eaten, otherwise Chad would be a red stain on the grass behind the bleachers. 

Chad rips away from Evie with a sigh, turning around to grip the pole behind him. “Ah, I’d really like to talk but I’m swamped.” Evie tenses at the sudden change in demeanor, looking at the ground before shoving her mirror back inside her purse as Chad mutters something to himself and turns around again. “Unless…” 

“Unless?” 

Chad slips his backpack off, holding it out to Evie. “You could knock all my homework out along with yours then maybe we could get together sometime. Okay?” 

_He’s such a dick? Why can’t she see that?_

Uma gapes as Evie takes the backpack, eyes lighting up as Chad winks at her as he turns and walks away. Sitting up Uma catches Audrey just in time, yanking her back down. They watch as Evie leaves glancing back at Chad from the corner of her eye. She struggles to keep her perfect posture while carrying his backpack over her shoulder. 

Audrey narrows her eyes at her. “What?” 

“Don’t,” Uma hisses, “If you freak on him right now you’ll only embarrass Evie, and we are trying to get them to like us. Remember?” 

“He just-” Audrey gestures as Chad jogs onto the field to meet the other tourney members filing out. Stomping her heel the blonde princess purses her lips resigning herself to the bleachers. “Fine, whatever.” 

“Why are you guys here anyways?” Jane asks, “I thought you didn’t like tourney.” 

Uma points to the two figures dressed in practice jerseys several steps away from the rest of the team. Carlos’ white hair standing out is next to Jay, both of them holding their tourney sticks with uncertainty as they wait for instruction. Ben waves them over from his spot but the two look at him, unmoving. They watch as they’re separated and Jay yells something at Carlos as they position themselves. The coach blows the whistle, and the field bursts into action. 

Jay slams into the nearest yellow jersey, knocking him to the ground. With a yell as he darts forward. Carlos stiffens as Jay focuses on him and for a second Uma worries that he’s going to be hurt, but the small teen moves past with ease, sliding out of the way. He starts running, ducking under another player as they try to knock him over, neatly avoiding the ruckus with the ball as he skirts around the field. 

Audrey frowns, “I don’t think he understands the play.” 

“You don’t either,” Jane ribs, snickering at their friends' face, “He’s actually really good. I’ve never seen anyone dodge like that before.” 

“It’s not like it's hard to tackle somebody,” Audrey huffs, “I’d like to see them try to tumble. That’s hard.”

Uma watches as Jay knocks three more players over brute strength does pay off. He scoops up the ball and heads for the kill zone. Her mouth drops open in fear as Jay speeds through it, ducking under the first shot with a laugh. He flips over the second, picking up the ball. The third shot misses him by a mile as he simply pauses for the shot to pass him before he gets to the other half of the field. 

Jane stares as Jay knocks another player over. “He’s so fast!” 

“He’s breaking every rule,” Audrey notes. Uma laughs as the VK shoots at Ben. The Crown Prince catches the ball with ease, saying something to Jay as the coach blows the whistle again. “Not surprised Ben caught that.” 

“Hey, he tried!” Jane protests. 

They can hear the coach as he starts lecturing Jay on how to play, his clipboard tucked under his arm he gestures at the VK who watches him with a lazy smile on his face. Jay manages to nod along to the coach, the bullshit expression disappearing. He looks at Carlos the smaller VK says something, turning back to the field with all the enthusiasm of a kicked puppy as they break for another scrimmage. 

They watch again as Carlos dodges, deftly rolling out of the way of their sticks. He tenses as the ball lands near him, and Jay lunges for it, all his brute force aimed straight at the white haired teen. The entire team seems to slow down as they watch Jay, mouths opening to protest as they lift their sticks to signal Jay to hold. 

Unfreezing Carlos ducks to the side, chipping the ball over Jay’s head as he blocks his friend’s stick. Getting to his feet he scoops the ball up, shooting a look behind him as Jay skids to a stop. He yells something, stirring the teams into movement again as he tosses the ball high and bats it away to the nearest player. Jay shoves Carlos with a grin on his face, saying something as they trade handshakes.

“Aw,” a voice laughs, “Lookie there, the wee boys are playin’ tourney.” 

Looking towards the new voice, Uma pauses as Harry Hook laughs to himself, tapping a rhythm onto the railings with his rings as he climbs the stairs. The harsh smile softens as he notices Jane, his voice dipping lower with amusement. “Hello there, Duckling.” 

“Hi,” Jane laughs nervously as Harry leans down to meet her eyes, “Are you here to watch Jay and Carlos?” 

Gil perks up beside his captain, looking back onto the field. “No, we’re just looking around.” 

“I thought you already did that when you skipped all your classes,” Audrey says. Her eyebrows raise as Harry glances at her, still leaning in front of Jane. “Or were you too busy trying to fix that shoddy eyeliner?” 

Uma jumps at the sound of Gil’s loud laugh as he looks at his friend. “Harry doesn’t have bad eyeliner, he does it every day.” 

Harry turns on Audrey with a smile, straightening as he looks down on her. “Sorry, lass, didnae catch that, Ah donnae speak bullshit.” Uma feels her mouth drop open at his words she watches Harry smirk, clearly enjoying the shock on Audrey’s face. He raises his eyebrows, head cocked to the side. “Is that all ye got?” 

With a huff Audrey rises to her feet. Even in her heels she only reaches his chin. “I’m a princess! You can’t just talk like that to me.” 

“Ah.” Harry nods, stepping back from her but Uma knows a fake act when she sees one, not surprised when he settles against the railing and grins. “Can ye blame me?” He extends a single gloved hand, “I mean, look at all the fucks I give.” 

This time Uma can’t hold back the snort of laughter that escapes her as Audrey stiffens. His eyes slide over to her as he bites his lip, pulling back his hand from the brunette. He looks softer as he focuses on her, the sunlight casting a halo around him, lighting his dark brown hair with streaks of gold. 

Beside him Gil laughs again, “You shouldn’t try and fight, Harry, he spends an hour ev-” 

“And that’s where you shut up,” Harry elbows his first mate with a pointed look. “Canny be givin’ our secrets away can we, Gil?” 

Biting the inside of her lip, Uma finally manages to school her face into a mask of neutrality as she leans back onto her hands behind her. “So why are you here?” 

“Lookin’ about, is all.” Harry explains, “Though I canny say that De Vil should be on that field. Much better with the computer.” 

“I thought you hated them,” Uma says. 

Harry inclines his head and nods in agreement. “Ah, we do, but everyone on the Isle knows that De Vil can create anythin’ he sets his mind to.” 

“Even you?” Jane asks. 

“Ye gotta know yer enemies,” Holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender Harry smiles at the fae, “How’re they doin’ anyways. The street rat has always been good at the simpler things in life.” 

Jane shakes her head, curls bouncing around her shoulders as Harry looks at her. “Carlos is actually really good, he dodged Jay even!” 

Uma stares as the pirates take seats next to Jane, their scabbards titling to accommodate the new position. Gil doesn’t appear to be a threat, twisting one of the rings on his fingers around as he watches the team on the field, occasionally glancing at Harry with a smile. His half sleeve is missing now, showing off the neat lines of his tattoo as he pushes his hair out of his eyes. Unlike Harry’s, the neat rope at the end of the hook wraps around a single arrow covered in flowers, vines wrapped around the shaft. Her eyes track up the smooth line of his arm as he shifts, more lines of tattoos peeking out from underneath his vest. 

Noticing Harry’s attention on her she raises a questioning brow at him. She listens as Jane explains the game to him. 

If he wants to intimidate her, Harry needs to do more than just a look like all the rest. Though, none of the other boys had swords or tattoo’s to begin with. Did all of the pirates have tattoos? None of Mal’s crew, except her, had any.

“We couldn’t play tourney anymore in school because it always ended with gang fights so they stopped doing any sports.” Uma blinks away her thoughts as she focuses on Gil’s story. He smiles as she catches his eye, straightening in his seat to look at her. “But we just play games on the ship instead or something. We bet a lot during practice and speed runs.” 

“Speed runs?” Jane frowns, “Is that like, sprinting?” 

Harry laughs, the sound almost involuntary as he leans forward on his knees. “Aye, sure, if you sprint after stealin’ somethin’.” 

Gil waves away Jane and Audrey’s twin looks of surprise. “Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous if you know what you’re doing. Basically it’s just a training run we do, so you have to get the item of the day that Harry chooses and then you have to avoid the crew for the next half an hour afterwards while they try to find you. Our crewmate Bonny is the fastest. She always gets away.” 

Uma ignores the curiosity beginning to brew as Jane makes a sound of understanding, nodding along. “Sounds interesting.” _Batshit crazy,_ rings in her mind but she ignores it as the whistle sounds on the field. 

She leans back onto the seat behind her as the conversation slows. Neither pirate seems to notice, watching the field with an almost polite interest if it wasn’t for the half smirks tugging at their lips as they whispered to each other. They almost look like students sitting in the sunlight, relaxing on the bleachers with them, their patchwork outfits almost unnoticeable.

Uma rolls her eyes. She talked enough shit about the Tourney team to recognize their interest. Chad is a full length conversation on any day, nevermind his friends. 

Remembering Jane’s words, Uma lets her magic unfurl from her chest and it brushes up against Harry. She grimaces at the metal beneath her feet as she opens herself. If Harry had magic it was a problem, the files they had gotten from the Isle did not mention any powers. Her magic curls itself around the dark haired pirate and she tenses, watching Harry she tightens it, feeling nothing but the familiar beat of his heart. Jane glances at her, brows furrowed but says nothing as Harry says something to Gil. 

Her magic tingles as Harry shifts, his voice sharpening as he looks away. She cringes as a burst of power races back towards her, sputtering out just in time to leave the sour taste of fear in her mouth. Pixie? Stopping she shakes her hands, wiping them on her thighs and focuses to see Harry rising to his feet in his all too graceful movements. 

Gil doesn’t stop there, vaulting himself over the rails with ease as shouts begin to sound from the field. She stands next to Audrey, letting her magic settle back in her chest, as she looks out to where the scrimmage seems to have come to an abrupt halt by one of the nets. She looks to her friends in confusion as Harry makes the jump as well, striding onto the field behind Gil. 

She opens her mouth to ask what’s the problem when the players stagger back. Carlos appears and swings his stick at something as Jay tugs him back. The circle of boys breaks as Jay shoves people out of his way Carlos darts from the chaos, nearly knocking into Gil in a mad scramble. Harry snaps his hand out to grab the white haired teen as he tries to rush past him, yanking Carlos into his body with ease, wrapping a single arm around his slight frame.

“What?” Uma looks in confusion as she glances at her friends. They’re all standing now, eyes trained on the players as Gil jogs towards where Jay’s holding his stick threateningly. “What happened?” 

“A dog ran onto the field,” Audrey explains.

Uma looks back to the on field chaos. Harry is still holding Carlos, Gil crouches and grabs the animal with ease. She can see the dog squirming in his arms as he marches back to the sidelines. With the interruption handled, Harry snaps at Carlos he pulls the smaller boy off his feet and turns carrying him off the field. The sight would be funny if it wasn’t for the sudden dread Uma feels is coming. Harry nearly throws Carlos onto a bench below them as Jay’s voice snaps loudly into the silence.

Uma rushes down in time to see Jay approaching Coach Jenkins with evenly controlled steps. “The fuck was that?” He throws his stick down with a snarl as the coach gapes at him. “I’m asking you a question!” 

“The dog-” 

“That mutt-” Jay shouts, “-should be locked away! What the fuck were you thinking.” 

She catches her breath for a moment and waves frantically to catch the group's attention. Audrey muttering something about players follows her. The teams are slowly trickling towards them and she doubts that any of the VK’s will refrain from more direct action soon. This Tourney was turning out to be a mess.

“What’s the matter?” she asks.

“Fucking incompetence.” Jay shifts black eyes flickering towards her. His skin gleams with sweat, hair falling out of the braid. “What the fuck is a mutt doing here?” 

Uma glances at the dog in Gil’s arms. It is an armful of fur in the VK’s arms but she doesn’t miss the taut lines of strength forcing compliance. Gil looks unbothered, unsmiling as he stands next to his Captain.

Audrey from behind Uma’s shoulder. “It’s the school dog, his name’s Dude.” 

“Dude?” 

Jane nods, nervously twining her fingers together. “Every week we get a new shelter dog, they all came with made up names.” 

“Well, it better nae fuckin’ chase Carlos again,” Harry orders. 

A small part of Uma bristles at the tone, opening her mouth to retort with some smartass answer when she notices him fully. His shoulders are tense, feet spread apart in a fighting stance, hand actively holding onto his sword. Behind him, Carlos is tucked into the shadows of the bleachers, curled into a tight ball. 

“It should be fucking leashed,” Jay adds on. 

Ben reaches them, his goalie helmet tucked under his arm. The rest of the team lingers by the water coolers, casting long glances over as they listen in. “Jay, yelling will not help us come to any conclusion.” 

“Fuck conclusion.” Uma wants to applaud Ben managing to stare down Jay’s glare as the VK steps towards him. “What kind of King are you?” 

“I’m not,” Ben intones, brow raising, “But yelling isn’t going-”

Harry tilts his head, his hair falling into his eyes as he murmurs something to Gil. For a second she thinks he’s going to order Gil to kill the dog from the way he looks at it but the blond simply nods and steps forward. “Jane, can you hold it?” 

“Pardon?” Jane blinks at the pirate. He glances at the dog in his arms and Jane stiffens, almost tripping herself as she rushes forward. “Yes, of course. Sorry, I should’ve asked.” 

Gil’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes as she steps back with the dog. “It’s fine.” 

“Fuck this,” Harry mutters, voice raising in anger, “It’s not fuckin’ fine, nor is is acceptable that ye lot allow mutts to run free. We’re fuckin’ leavin’.” 

“What?” Ben gaps as the dark haired pirate pulls Carlos to his feet, the gesture oddly gentle despite his vulgar language. Carlos holds onto Harry with shaking hands, looking too small in the big practice jersey. “It was a mistake on our part, we will make sure that Dude does not bother you anymore.” 

Jay snorts as Harry and Gil start back towards the school, Carlos between them. He flips Coach Jenkins off as they pass, “Yeah right.” 

Ben frowns at their retreating backs. “That was a disaster.” 

“You call that a disaster?” Audrey gestures to the VK’s, her curls bouncing around her shoulders as she throws a hand up in the air. “I’m pretty sure we’re lucky they didn’t decide to murder one of us.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally some huma, but theres a loooong way to go from here


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update, my editor is on break so i tried to fix the chapter myself. thanks for your patience!!  
> watch as Uma and Crew have a realistic friendship in which lo dicussions are had

Mal and her crew are missing from their spots across from Gil and Harry at dinner time. Taking her seat beside Audrey, Uma drops her plate onto the table with a huff. “Hey guys.” 

“Evening,” Ben smiles, “How was your day?” 

Uma rolls her eyes as she bites into a fry. “Tiring. I missed my test today so I had to hunt my teacher down to ask to take it tomorrow.” 

“Which class?” 

“Uh, Auradon History.” 

Audrey makes a noise beside her, her nose scrunching up. “I heard it was super hard. Maybe Lonnie can help you prepare.” 

“Are you fucking serious?” She glances around the mess hall for Lonnie’s shiny dark hair, frowning when she doesn’t see her with the rest of the ROAR team. The mess hall is busy with students eating and working, just as many textbooks on the tables as plates. “She must be setting up tomorrow with the committee.” 

Ben bites into his food with a shrug. “She’s in six different clubs, I am swamped in nine, so...” 

“Okay, Mr Perfect,” Uma scoffs. He grins as he dodges the fry she tosses at him, the familiar bullshit gleam in his eyes. “Making us look shitty. I’m not joining shit over here, I got a full roster at home anyways.” 

“Hi guys.” Jane waves as she sits down next to Ben, bag in her arms. Her hair bounces around her shoulders in perfect ringlets as she turns and smiles at the silent VK’s. “Hey, Harry, Gil.” 

Neither of them acknowledge her and Uma feels a spark of anger bloom in her chest. Harry doesn’t so much as breathe at Jane, his arm propped up on the table, covering his plate and his face from them. On Harry’s far side Gil doesn’t react to her either, head bent in concentration on something between them. 

They had disappeared from the school after tourney along with the other VK’s in a strange show of solidarity. If they had anything more to say about the incident neither of them were forthcoming. 

“What are you guys working on?” Jane asks. 

“A map.” Gil looks up, wincing as Harry elbows him. He frowns for a moment then shrugs, aiming a bright smile at Jane. “Hey, have you tried the cupcakes? I’m only allowed one but Harry let me have his too.” 

Uma presses her lips together as Jane’s magic swirls in excitement as she grabs her cupcake and hands it to the VK. He gaps at her, eyes widening with astonishment before he bites into it, icing smearing on his top lip. The pair begin a lively conversation overtop Harry, the odd silence forgotten. He doesn’t seem to notice the uptick in conversation, grabbing Gil’s pencil from him to continue working. 

She watches him for another minute before she turns to her own plate, stabbing the fish with her fork. “Anyways,” she starts, “Are we having another meeting tomorrow before classes again?” 

“I would prefer that, yes.” Ben shrugs as he wipes his hands on his napkin, looking at his girlfriend with a questioning look. “You up for it?” 

“I can but I don’t want to,” Audrey says. 

“Then we won't.” The prince announces, taking a bite of his steak. “That was easy.” 

Jane grins as she drops her textbook onto the table, opening the cover and grabbing sheets of paper out of it. “Uhm, can any of you read this over? It’s my work for fae classes.” 

“You mean, hell on earth?” Taking the paper Audrey frowns at the title, glancing up at the fae. “Another contract? I thought you finished it last year.” 

“Yeah, I did but I wanted to get a higher mark,” Jane sighs, “My mom said I had to work on my magic and contracts anyways so…” 

Uma laughs at the disgust on Audrey’s face as Jane shrugs. “Aw, come on, Auds, writing isn’t that bad. I’m retaking Politics and Religion anyways.” 

“And I’m doing drama.” Audrey throws her hands in the air. “You guys are making me look bad, taking all the advanced classes again.” Uma clasps a hand over her mouth as she laughs harder at her friend’s expression. Next to her Jane presses her lips together in a futile attempt to stay straight faced. “Seriously!” 

Uma forces herself to calm down, biting her tongue against the snickers that escape. “It’s fine, Auds, it’s our bridge year. Hell, Ben’s not even in classes half the time.” 

She whacks her boyfriend as he shrugs, eyes alight with amusement. “Crown Prince privilege.” 

“What’s a bridge year?” Gil asks. 

Harry shrugs, his mouth moving as he mutters something to himself, a pencil rhythmically tapping against the table. “Some bullshit royals do.” 

Audrey’s amusement flickers as her brows knit together. “Actually, it’s a year for royals to catch up on classes they might have missed, or take specialized ones meant for their positions in court. For instance, Ben, Uma and I all take similar classes to one another because we are all heirs to a throne, but Jane takes regular courses because she’s fae and won’t be attending any of our courts.” 

Harry straightens, brow ticked upwards in curiosity as he glances at Jane. “So ye lot take classes on how to write your signature prettily then? Dosnae seem like much to learn.” 

“Penmanship is very important,” Uma interrupts, “But there’s more to it than that. For a lot of student’s they use this year to finalize who they want to either work for, or have working for them in the future. Ben’s here because he has to see through with this program he’s running, sort of like a project for a last minute assessment of what he needs to work on. Like how to run a court properly, or introduce good legislation.” 

“That’s dull,” Harry says, looking back to his work with a smile tugging at his lips. “Ye lot are more bammy than I thought.” He folds the piece of paper he had been working on, and slips it into his pocket as he rolls his eyes at them. “Yer classes are bammy as well.” 

Audrey’s pauses as he trades a look with Gil. She points to him with a single acrylic nail, voice pitched with sarcasm. “Oh, yes, I’m sorry, we don’t include kidnapping into our curriculum, like you do but you’re always free to return to the Isle instead.” 

“Audrey,” Ben says, “Don’t be rude.” She turns to face him with surprise but Ben shakes his head at her. “I don’t doubt we would have certain feelings about their curriculum on the Isle if we ever went.” 

“Ye wouldn’t survive,” Harry says. He idly spins his hook on the table, twisting it between his fingers, the light reflecting off the polished silver. He casts a grin at Audrey, sharp and dangerous. “An’ we already finished school anyways, so ye wouldn’t be learnin’ much.” 

“Wait, you're out of school?” 

Harry looks over at her question. “What’re they gonna teach us, hm? All they prattle on about is lessons an’ shite.” 

“But you shouldn’t ditch,” Audrey frowns at the pirate, her shoulders dropping as she glances at her boyfriend but Uma knows it’s not for permission as she watches her focus on Harry again. Gil falls silent at Audrey’s reply, brows furrowing as he glances at his captain. “School is an important part of life, you can’t skip it just because running your little pirate ship is more fun than assignments. If you want to stay here then you’re going to have to work hard for once. School isn’t something you can just ditch because it’s not interesting.” 

Harry’s pencil stops tapping, the table falling silent as he meets the princess’ eyes. Uma’s blood freezes at the sight of the slow sardonic smile crawling across his face. “Lassy, if ye wanna keep yer tongue I suggest ye hold it.” 

Ben stiffens at the VK’s low tone, eyes narrowing at the threat. “Harry, we don’t threaten people here. Audrey is just -” 

“ _Audrey_ is just lecturing Gilly boy and me about hard work.” Her name falls off his lips with a purr, his smile widening at the crown prince as Ben takes Audrey’s hand in his. Something in Uma wants to punch the sneer right off the pirate’s face but she remains still as he gestures with his hook. “I donnae expect ye tae understan’ everythin’, Princess, but if ye make one more remark about my crew or act like ye know a damned thing about the Isle, I’ll have ye cryin’ for yer ma.” 

Ursula never raised Uma to be impulsive. She didn’t. A little mean and curt, yes, of course, but nothing in Uma’s childhood had been raised to be reckless. As a princess she was careful, political in public, yet Uma can’t find herself surprised as she lunges for Harry. Her hand curls over his collar, nails scraping over the metal bits of his jacket as she yanks him over the table.

“I don’t give a fuck about your feelings-” Her magic snaps around her, crackling with emotion as she meets his eyes. “-but if you fucking threaten Audrey again I’ll string you up and beat you to death with your own goddamned hook.” 

She tightens her grip on his collar as he chuckles, his breath hot on her skin as he looks at her, pale eyes flitting down to her hands. “I appreciate the warning, seawitch, but ye should be keeping yer friends leashed better if ye don’t want this to happen again.” He shushes her with a quiet sound as she begins to speak, his eyes lowering to her mouth as his voice drops to a murmur, and she finds herself holding her breath to listen to it. “Perhaps my father was right when he warned me about the sea folk, witches ‘n all.” 

“I’m not a witch.” 

Her stomach turns uncomfortably at his smile as he meets her gaze, pale eyes turning silver in the sunlight. “Oh? Then what are ye?” 

“More.” 

He clicks his tongue, and leans into her grip with a smile. “Perhaps...” She feels her heart leap into her throat as she shifts to adjust to the sudden weight. Her eyes widen as he tilts his head, his breath washing over her skin. “Yer much more than that.” 

Tearing away from her in a simple movement he stalks away between tables full of rapt students, his hook in his hand. Gil stands without a sound, leaving their dinner behind as he follows behind his captain out the mess hall.

She shivers as she sits down, feeling her nail biting into her palms as she clenches her hands around empty air. 

“What the fuck was that?” 

Turning to Audrey she falls into her seat with an open mouth, and promptly shutting it as she looks at Jane and Ben. She shrugs as they look back to the shutting doors with wide eyes. “He hit on me?” 

“He what?” Audrey slams her hand onto the table, rising from her seat. “Fuck this.” 

Uma goes to grab her but Ben takes the signal and pulls his girlfriend back into her seat before she can go after the pair. “Babe, I don’t think that’s the smartest plan. Why don’t we go to Uma’s room and relax for a while.” 

“He threatened me,” she argues, “And he - he threatened Uma too! Ben, babe, darling, I love you but you can’t just let them get away with acting like this just because they’re your pet project! This isn’t good for anyone.” 

“They are not pet projects, first of all, they are people,” Ben starts, anger creeping into his voice, “I will go talk to them afterwards but running after them in a huff is not the image I wanted to create when I started this.” 

In her spot Jane closes her textbooks with a nervous smile, shoving them in her backpack. “Should we go? Now, I mean, should we go now to your room?” 

Uma frowns at the fae’s unusual insistence before she stiffens. The regularly bright and lively cafre has lowered to a murmur, and she looks past her friends to see the other students casting their table long looks as they talk with their friends in huddles. 

“Fuck.”

Shoving her panic away, Uma meets Ben’s eyes with a pointed stare. Taking Jane by the arm she stands with her, gesturing for her friends to get up with a smile. As if in a spell, the room falls silent until their chairs knocking against the table is the loudest sound. Uma uses her reputation to good use and glares at the students as they pass, feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, no doubt from classmates. They don’t say a word until they’ve reached Uma’s floor, practically spilling out of the elevator with exclamations of relief. 

“Oh my god,” Jane sighs, pressing a hand to her chest, “I’m going to be in so much trouble from my mom.” 

“Your mom?” Uma laughs but it sounds strained to even her as they walk down the hall. Her heart hadn’t yet got the message, still beating hard in her chest. “I’m going to be fucking flayed alive.” 

Ben laughs at her theatrics as she slams her card against the reader and opens her door with a flourish. The sound strained ???. At his side, Audrey presses her lips together. “Okay, okay, we can deal with all of that when we get the chance but right now let us focus on the first topic.” 

“Oh hey guys!” 

Lonnie waves at them from her bed, long dark brown hair curls falling over her shoulders as she sits up. Uma stops her walk across the dorm and stares at the sight. “What the fuck.” 

The taller girl beams at her, hand running through her hair, beautiful corkscrew curls that she did not have that morning. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you but Mal helped me do my hair! Isn’t it pretty?” 

“But your hair was so nice,” Audrey exclaims as she strides over to Lonnie, apparently forgetting their meeting at the sight of her friend. “Why did you change it?” 

Lonnie shrugs. “I saw Jane’s hair and I thought it was so pretty, and I was sick of the short hair anyways even though mom always says it’s good for fighting. So I paid her to do it! A lot of the other girls want help too.” 

The idea of Mal helping out the other students forces a laugh from Uma’s chest as she resumes her walk to her bed, shucking her jacket onto the covers. “That’s a fucking seagull’s cry if I ever heard one.” 

“What the fuck is a seagulls cry?” Lonnie asks. 

Uma ignores her question as she looks at everyone, waving it away as they take their respective seats around the room. “Okay...first rule of order is, Harry.” 

“He threatened me, and he threatened you.” Audrey says from her spot beside Lonnie on her bed, legs tucked neatly underneath her. The other girl wisely keeps quiet, as she slides her laptop off her lap and listens in. “I think he should be, at least, reprimanded for that.” 

“Okay, but what made him do that? Harry and Gil aren’t stupid and I don’t believe Harry would jeopardize his position here just for fun.” She motions to her friend with a look, “Everything was fine until we started talking about school.” 

“And Audrey commented about their work ethic,” Ben cuts in. He frowns down at his hands in thought as he recalls the conversation. “He said they weren’t in school anymore, so Audrey told them about not ditching being a priority while they were here, then he got upset and he told her to stop, then he threatened her and Uma grabbed him.” 

“Okay but he threatened to hurt me,” Audrey says, “Shouldn’t we be focusing on that, instead of why he started threatening me? I can’t threaten people just because they annoy me and they should be held to the same standard as well.” 

“But you did provoke him,” Uma frowns at her friend, “He said he didn’t go to school anymore and you took that as him ditching and started to tell him off.” 

To her credit Audrey manages to look ashamed for a moment as she glances down into her lap, shoulders slumping. A part of Uma cringes at the sight but ignores it as she looks to Ben for help. He bites at his lip as he thinks where he’s at the small table with Jane, fingers idly tapping on the wood. 

“Maybe he got insulted about that.” 

Looking at Jane, Uma frowns. “What do you mean.” 

The fae tucks her hair behind her ears as she takes a moment before she starts speaking. “I looked at their test scores when I was helping my mom and they all got close to perfect.” 

“Really?” 

Jane nods at their looks of surprise, wincing at their loud exclamations. “Of course! My mom thought she would have to go nicer on the marking but it was actually pretty easy though some of the questions were weird. I helped her on those ones, but they all got A’s actually.” 

“Weird answers?” Audrey questions. 

“For one of the questions it was about what government we have and they all said we have an aristocracy and not a constitutional monarchy but they managed to bring up enough facts for it to be plausible. Evie was the only one to not do it, but other than that they’re good at school.” 

Audrey presses her lips together. “Well, that’s surprising.” 

“Which is why you shouldn’t judge people for who you think they are,” Lonnie snaps at the other princess, having gotten a hold of the situation. “Come on, Auds, stop being a bitch about the VK’s already. You’re only upset because you’re scared of them.” 

“I am not!”

Uma holds a hand up, making her voice sharp with the same authority she uses in Atlantica. “We’re getting off topic! Audrey, you need to focus on not being rude, because ever since they got here you’ve been picking fights with them and that can’t keep happening. Okay?” The pink clad princess purses her lips together and nods with a sigh. Nodding to herself Uma points at Ben with a teal painted nail, “You’re in charge of this entire fucking group so get your goddamn act together before someone decides to deck your girlfriend. We have bigger problems than Hook being prideful.” 

“Thank you, Uma,” Ben says, “You’re right. We need to stop fighting. Audrey, maybe stay away from the boys, focus on the girls, Evie needs a friend, focus on her.” 

“I can do that,” she says. 

“And for Harry threatening you, we can have Ben call them out.” Uma finds herself saying, looking to the crown prince for his nod before continuing. “Harry isn’t stupid, we can talk to him, bring up Jay, Gil, Carlos, and Harry and explain to them they cannot threaten people.” 

Lonnie leans back against her headboard with a sigh, arms crossed over her chest. The anger from earlier is gone, replaced by a thoughtful expression. “Okay and what else? They’re not going to immediately just listen to you.” 

“Well,” Audrey starts, “What if we gave them things, and then reinforced certain attitudes using them. I ordered Evie new material, and I can give her a deal to make sure that she has to be a good student in order to get more. Maybe try something like that with the rest of them.” 

“You ordered Evie material?” Jane asks. 

Audrey nods, “Yeah, she mentioned making her own outfits, and she only wears those leather outfits which are not good for the heat so I ordered her some cotton and linen to help her with it.” 

“See,” Lonnie nudges the princess with her slipper clad foot, wiggling her eyebrows, “Is it that hard to be nice?” 

Audrey opens her mouth to say something but pauses and shakes her head. “No, but to be fair, Evie seems to need help anyways. The doctors said she had an eating disorder and everything, and the others don’t even seem to notice.” Jane looks near tears at the mention of the blue haired VK, brows furrowed as she blinks a bit harder. 

An uncomfortable shift in her stomach gets Uma to press her lips together as they fall into silence. She had never taken part in any of the diet fads that had arisen over the years no matter how much she saw herself compared to the other royals. Even against privacy laws and regulations, Uma didn’t need to pick up the latest magazines to know the paps had rated all the girls in the school, or photographed them in sensitive situations. Several times Audrey had been the star of several fake scandals that resulted in more than a few public fights between her and her parents. Luckily for Uma, Atlantica was one of the few places that did not have a paparazzi, or widespread media, probably due to the lack of electronics underwater, enchanted or not.

If Audrey notices the obvious drop in attitude, she ignores it, brushing her curls from her face in a practised movement. “So what’s the plan? We get to tomorrow to just pull them aside and explain the basic rules here, like “no threats”, and “wearing leather isn’t a personality”.” 

Behind her, Lonnie snorts at her last comment, slapping a hand over her mouth as she laughs. “What the fuck Audrey?” 

“It’s true!” Audrey exclaims, “A blind man could dress better. I mean, I think half the designs are like, six different patterns and just stitched together. Mal has a jacket that has one sleeve!” 

Uma snorts at the thought of the jacket. It had allowed her to show off her tattoo, but it’s practical use seemed limited to every other purpose of having a jacket in the first place. Jane’s mouth pressed together firmly as she watches both Lonnie and Audrey giggle to each other, her magic thrumming in her viens at the mood shift. 

“Okay okay.” Ben rolls his eyes at his girlfriend, eyes shining with amusement as she straightens in her seat with a smile. “So tomorrow I can just have them attend my office before first period, and then we can get on from there.” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Uma says, “But if I punch Mal it’s totally not my fault, okay?” 

“Uma!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made the vk's to be out of school due to irl statistics that most poor kids don't finish highschool, if they even enter. i am moving soon so next week i'm dropping two chapters at once!
> 
> Grades they dropped out in:  
> Harry - Gr 9 (when CJ went missing)  
> Gil - Gr 7 (Gaston believes education isn't needed)  
> Mal - Gr 10 (Maleficent believes knowledge is power but Mal said no)  
> Evie - none (castle schooled)  
> Jay - Gr 9 (Jafar's store got more "important")  
> Carlos - Gr 11 (he still learns on the side, he finished the grade when he was twelve)


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first chapter out of two today
> 
> I just wanna jump on here to say thank you!! your guys' replies and comments have brought me more inspiration than I know what to deal with and I love seeing you guys notice the details I try to implement! you guys have made this all worth the trouble, and I can't wait to share more with you guys!! im so happy you guys like the story enough to comment on specific lines and character traits, you're all the best! thank you so so much !!!! <333
> 
> onto the story! school day !! ft the same shitty teacher i had in highschool

Uma groans at the sounds of her alarm, squeezing her eyes shut as she flaps her hand onto her nightstand. Lonnie says something from her bed as she finally grabs the alarm, switching it off and shoving it under her pillow with a sigh.

School is always fun, the learning and the experience, but she had never gotten used to the sunlight that came with attending Auradon. The feeble curtains made it impossible for her to sleep past six in the summer, both too warm and too bright for her liking.

Outside her open window she hears the steady chorus of birds, and not for the first time, she feels a pang of homesickness for Atlantica. The steady currents, and soft glows of the magic to wake her up instead of the oppressing and neverending sunlight. She never missed the sunlight when she was beneath the waves. 

“Morning,” Lonnie groans. 

Uma wipes the beginnings of tears away as she buries her face into her pillow, stretching for a moment before turning to look at her roommate.  _ Fuck homesickness _ , she thinks. Lonnie waves at her, one eye cracked open. “Ready for the test?” 

“No.” Sitting up Uma looks down at the mess of notes and books still on her bed, the remains of last night's study session. She numbly recalls the date of Auradon’s first coronation as she clumps the mess together and dumps it on her nightstand. “Fuck, I’m too tired for this shit.” 

Lonnie nods in agreement as they get ready quietly, wiping their eyes free of sleep as they pack their bags for the day. Uma unwraps her hair, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She was rather proud of today’s outfit, fishnet leggings under high waisted shorts decorated with shells and a belt of gold chains, the extra links looped on her hip with charms she had found in an old shipwreck. Her top hung loose on her shoulders, tucked into her shorts, the sleeves pinned at the tops of her arms revealing more skin than she knows the school allows. 

Lonnie stands beside her with a huff, hands on her hips. “Now, that’s completely unfair.” Her new hair is tied into tight braids, no doubt for ROAR practice, wearing a soft green top tucked into dark washed jeans, her signature red belt on her waist. “You look like you just came off the runway and I look like a dumpster fire.” 

“You do not,” Uma laughs, “You look fine, it’s just the fishnets making me look cool.” 

Lonnie rolls her eyes as she grabs her backpack and opens the dorm door, shutting it behind them as they leave. “Yeah sure, and it’s not because you have the second biggest wardrobe after Auds.” 

“Okay,” Uma says with a grin, “That’s completely unfair, Audrey has like, three rooms of clothing, I just have what my mom helped me pack.” 

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Uma saying she has four rooms dedicated to her clothes in Atlantica without admitting it.” 

She laughs at her friends' awful sportannoucer voice, bumping their shoulders together as they join the group of girls at the end of the hall. They trade customary hellos and good mornings as they wait for the elevator, all too tired to think of the stairs. 

“Hey, guys! How’re the new students going?” 

Blinking up from the carpet, Uma meets Jordan’s eyes with a frown as she walks down the hall to join them. “Huh?” Not for the first time Uma wishes she dressed like the Genie’s daughter, the soft blue harem pants looking comfier than any pair of shorts she owned, despite the heavy amount of gold that infiltrates the rest of her look.

The taller girl flicks her black and purple ponytail over her shoulder with a smile, wrists clinking with jewellery. “The Villian Kids,” Jordan says, “I have one in my cooking class, and she’s pretty chill. She tried to stab Aziz, and honestly, it made my day.” 

Uma laughs at the mention of Mal’s temper. Luckily Aziz had brushed it off as his own fault, and Mal had been able to avoid detention, or worse, a note towards the program. 

Uma shrugs, “They’re a handful, but it’s gonna spice the year up alright.” 

Jordan nods in agreement, glancing at the other girls as they file onto the elevator, nodding greetings to the young blonde standing inside. “Hey, Ally.” 

Ally waves at them, dressed in a deep blue dress as usual, her blonde hair tied up in a voluminous ponytail. “Good morning! You guys talking about the VK’s?” 

“Yeah,” Uma says, “They’re a handful to deal with, but I hope it turns out good anyways.” 

“I bet,” the genie scoffs, “Do you think I can get one of them for an interview? They’d bring my views up alot.” 

Lonnie points at Jordan with a smile. “Hey, that’s a pretty good idea, I can help you with that if you want. I’m gonna ask the pirates to attend ROAR practice tonight, why don’t you join?” 

“I can’t,” Jordan sighs, “I got detention at five. Turns out being sarcastic is banned, Mrs Merryweather nearly had a heart attack when I told her that ‘yes, I’m totally going to start a cult for myself’.” 

The elevator erupts into laughter as Jordan rolls her eyes at the memory. Ally beams, “Remember when you told off Mr Deley last year? You got in so much trouble for that too!” 

Jordan laughs as she nods at Ally, “Oh yeah, that made for a great episode of Detention Sessions.” 

“I think you’ve fought half the school at this point,” Uma says. 

“Oh, sure.” Jordan gives her a pointed stare as the doors open and they file out into the lobby, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Says you, the Queen of Trouble, Little Miss Fistacuffs herself. I should have you on my podcast, and then we can really get in trouble when you start to bash the King again.” 

Lonnie snorts at the title as Uma narrows her eyes at the taller girl. “I don’t bash the king,” Uma huffs, “I just...point out all his flaws and take the time to actually think through the policies he tries to enact. It’s not my fault it just happens to be on live television.” 

“Oh sure~” 

They erupt into laughter as they walk through the doors, joining the droves of students making their way to classes. The sun is hidden from them by the clouds, keeping their walk pleasant as they walk through the gardens. Lonnie leaves them halfway to join her brother, saying something about needing to talk strategy for tonight. The VK’s are sitting at the breakfast table when Uma walks through the mess hall doors, waving Jordan goodbye as she’s called to join her table. 

“Morning,” Uma takes her seat as she tucks her bag under her chair, “What’s for brekkie today?” 

Audrey lifts her plate. “Waffles and fruit,” she sighs, “Though the whipped cream is the best part, to be honest.” 

“I don’t understand why we can’t have that too,” Mal says from her seat. She taps her fork against her plate as she takes another bite of her cheesy omelette, stacking a tomato on it. A part of Uma wants to tell her she’s going to get carded for her mesh jacket front, a purple tank top underneath but she lets it slide, knowing she’s done the same. A part of her begrudgingly admits it’s cute. “We don’t even get a fucking choice.” 

“It’s better than the Isle though,” Jay cuts in, sharing a look with Mal as he leans back in his chair, plate empty, “I’ll take fresh food any day.” His hair is up today, neat braids ensuring his hair keeps from his face and Uma knows Evie had a hand in it. The blue haired VK doesn’t enter the conversation, idly eating her applesauce, wearing a black leather jacket overtop her navy blue dress.

The comment seems enough to settle the purple haired leader down enough for Audrey to give Uma a sharp glance as she opens her mouth. Remembering her promise, Uma swallows back the comment she has and manages a smile at the gang leader. “It’s for your own health, but it won’t last forever. The healthier you guys get then you can have more selection but until then it’s doctors orders.” 

Evie frowns at her last sentence. “You listen to your doctors?” 

“Uh,” Audrey gives the blue haired girl an odd look, “Yeah, they help us get better. Why? Do you not?” 

She shrugs, tucking a stray curl behind her ear with a quick smile. “Not really, Doctor Facilier tricks you alot and he makes you keep paying.” 

“He’s a piece of shit,” Harry grumbles, a piece of apple between his teeth, “Waste of money.” 

Ben opens his mouth, no doubt to comment on the swearing, but Audrey takes his hand in hers with a tight smile on her face before facing the VK’s again. “So who do you go to then?” 

Evie shrugs, the action almost a twitch as if she had forgotten she had been answering before she realized. She straightens and looks at Mal almost questionly as the other VK’s wait for her to answer. 

“We don’t,” Mal says, her green eyes narrowing into a glare, “I guess your parents didn’t want us to have any doctors.” 

“Along with anything else,” Harry says. 

Uma feels her brows raise at the animosity in their voices. It’s the same sound as the one she had used for her first argument against Ben’s father. “Ah, well, you don’t have to worry about that here. Doctors are held to an oath to do their best.” Mal rolls her eyes but doesn’t bother saying anything else, leaning on her arm bracketing her plate as she finishes her meal. 

If Ben notices their blatant hate, which Uma knows he does, he doesn’t say. “So, what classes do you guys have then?” 

“I have science, chivalry, English, lunch, geography, history, math, and goodness class,” Gil answers. 

“Oh?” Uma looks to the dark haired captain beside him but Harry doesn’t comment. “Did you have any favourite classes on the Isle?” 

Gil frowns in thought, then shrugs. “Not really. History of the Wharf was cool but the homework was weird. Harry had awesome classes.” 

“Did he?” Ben asks, focusing on the dark haired pirate. “What did you have?” 

Harry clicks his tongue as he leans back in his chair, crossing his arms and Uma has the distinct feeling he would be kicking his feet up on the table if there wasn’t food on it. “Advanced piracy, history, map making, and rigging, mostly.” 

Uma frowns at the strange collection of class names. “Do you not have English or anything?” 

“That’s writin’ things, right?” 

Uma nods and Harry gestures with his hand. “Advanced Piracy, ye gotta learn how to write a proper ransom, and letter.” 

“Oh~” Jay wiggles his fingers towards Carlos with a laugh, looking at Harry with a grin. “A letter! I’m so frightened.” Carlos laughs gently through his spoonful of applesauce. Uma recognizes the bags under his eyes for what they are, but he looks better than yesterday. 

“Fuck off, street rat,” Harry replies, “The only class ye could do was P.E..” 

“You were good at tourney,” Uma interrupts, “Did you consider playing for the team? I’m pretty sure Coach Jenkins would love to have you.” 

Jay rolls his eyes at the pirate, taking a bite of his apple slices. He seems better already, his skin having lost that odd pale look and she frowns at the thought. It must be hard to look any worse than half starved, even if they wore the same half made clothes. Uma notes to make another appointment for Evie as she watches the VK nibble on her omelette.

“I don’t know,” he says, “They all play like pussies.” 

She can’t help the smile that grows on her face as she sees Chad double over in his seat behind Jay, his coffee now dripping down his outfit as he coughs. The VK’s turn to see what caught her attention, brows raising at the sight of the prince meekly clearing his throat, face red.

Aziz tosses him a napkin, sitting across from him. “Dude, you just got your stupid coffee in my breakfast. What the fuck.” 

Chad points at them, turning in his seat. Coffee dribbles down his chin, his white button up stained. “He just-” 

“Yeah and I don’t give a fuck,” Aziz rolls his eyes, “Maybe next time don’t try to body slam people and they won’t call you a pussy.”

Jay snorts. “I seriously doubt he could body slam me.” 

“إنه فاخر، تجاهله, ” the prince says. 

Uma watches as Mal stiffens in her seat, head whipping to the side almost violently towards Jay as the others do. Jay doesn’t notice the attention, and Uma watches the exact moment the language clicks, and he recognizes Aziz, the dark curls and warm brown skin enough of a clue.

“أليس كذلك؟.” 

Aziz perks up, head snapping up from where he had been cleaning up the rest of the coffee on the table. “You’re Jafar’s son, aren’t you?” 

“Jay.” 

Both tables remain perfectly frozen as a smile plays on Aziz’s lips. Ben opens his mouth to say something but for the first time this morning he seems to know better and shuts it again. Uma curses the lack of planning. Aziz is known for running his mouth right into trouble and from the joy nearly radiating off of him, she knows it’s only time before he catches the bad end of a VK. 

He stands as the first bell rings without breaking the stare, straightening his kurta. “Now you have to join so we can see who’s better.” 

“I wouldn’t need to try,” Jay says. 

“Ah,” Aziz smiles widely, “Yet I stole the ball from you at tryouts.” He waves at the rest of them as he turns to leave, “Bye guys!” 

Mal whips around in her seat as he walks away. “That’s Aladdin’s kid?” 

“Yup,” Ben smiles, “His name’s Aziz, he’s in our grade but you guys probably won’t have any classes with him. He’s in the international stream, but he’s really nice.” 

The rest of the VK’s turn themselves around in their seats, glancing between each other and not for the first time Uma wonders how they can understand each other. As if their hatred doesn’t exist, Harry and Mal look to each other with shuttered expressions. It’s a strange sight to watch as though both gang leaders hadn’t been shooting each other insults at every chance. She doesn’t notice any special gestures or expressions before they focus on their food again with impressive speed, the apparent non-conversation conversation over.

Evie lays her utensils upon her half full plate. “What’s the international stream?” Her makeup is impressively subtle for someone wearing so much, eyes highlighted with blue eyeshadow and Uma knows that Evie will be featured on the weekly magazines if she keeps up the perfect eyeliner. “Is it special classes?” 

Audrey tilts her hand side to side. “It’s for kids who go to other countries and want to learn in their native language, or want to travel to a different kingdom or country. Mostly it’s just kids like Aziz and Lonnie who take it because they have to go back home after school is done.” 

“Really?” The blue haired VK looks at Carlos with an almost hopeful expression before it’s gone and she smiles at Audrey. “I can speak four languages, could I go?” 

“You speak four languages?” Ben asks. 

“Yeah,” Evie says, “French, Mandarin, Arabic, and English.”

Audrey points to the rest of the VK’s with a gesture with surprise in her voice. “Can you guys speak them to?”

Jay shakes his head. “No, Evie was homeschooled. I only know Arabic because it’s what my dad talks in.” 

Uma nudges Ben’s leg under the table, giving him a sharp look as Audrey asks another question. He frowns, and Uma resists the urge to sigh as she gestures to the now mostly empty cafeteria. His expression morphs into understanding just as the second bell rings, and the last of the students get to their feet.

“Ah, guys, we should be getting to class,” he starts, taking a moment to look at his watch, “Let’s put the dishes away and we can go.” 

The VK’s get to their feet, grabbing their school issued backpacks as they follow Ben to the conveyor belt, looking hilariously out of place with the finely made bags in their gloved hands. Ben takes his time to explain the belt to the group as it starts up once they’ve placed the plates and cups on it. Evie looks to Carlos with a smile, sliding her arm in his as she whispers something to him. He nods with a smile, pointing as the belt, and the blue haired teen nods along as he talks, their conversation drowned out by Gil’s happy exclamations. 

“That would be so cool,” he looks at Ben then Harry, “I think my mom would like to have that, maybe we can make one.” 

Harry hums, his bag slung on his wrist as he hooks his fingers into the belts at his hips. Unlike the girls, Harry wears his white t-shirt and black and red pants from yesterday, though the bottom of his usually long jacket is gone, leaving it at his hips. “I dunno ‘bout that, Gilly.” 

A voice cuts in before Gil can answer. “Uma! What are you doing?” 

“Huh?” Turning just in time to catch Lonnie’s outstretched hand Uma frowns, “What?” 

“Your test!” the taller girl huffs, “You’re going to be late.”

“Shit, right.” Linking arms with the taller girl, Uma looks towards the group. “Okay I’m off! If I find out if any of you have been skipping today I’m going to hang you all from the roof.” 

Harry snorts. “Wee bit dark isn’t it?” 

She rolls her eyes, “I meant figuratively.” 

“Oh hey,” Lonnie points at Evie, head cocked to the side, “Aren’t you in our class too?” 

“Yes,” Evie says, “I have the test today too.” 

She smiles pleasantly at them, curls braided back from her face. Lonnie gestures between them with her spare hand, brow raising in question. “Do you want to walk with us?” 

“Oh, yes!” The VK bounces for a moment, her smile nearly splitting her face before she settles back down, looking at Mal. The gang doesn’t say anything as their leader shrugs in answer. “I shall be going then, I’ll see you later?” 

“Yeah,” Mal nods, “Later.” 

Uma pointedly looks at Lonnie as they exit the cafeteria but to her credit, Lonnie astutely ignores the attention as she smiles at Evie. “Did you study for the test?” 

“Ah,” Evie starts, “I tried but it seems your information is different than ours. I don’t think I will do any good on this exam.”

Uma frowns at the admission. She remembers Jane’s explanations about their test answers, but she hadn’t thought much of it.  _ Maybe they were taught different scenarios,  _ she thinks _ , happens often enough with other kingdoms _ . “Different? How?” 

Evie shifts the bag in her arms, dodging a student as they skirt by her. “Well, the circumstances in which King Beast rounds up the villains is different.” She pauses as they fall into single file to climb the stairs, “But I know all the major years, so hopefully that will be good.” 

Lonnie grimaces. “I dunno about that, this test is about the kingdoms. Unless you know all of that.” 

Evie brightens as they near the class. “I do! Then maybe I’ll do better. My mother had me memorize every royal house. I can recite them all easily!” 

“Okay, want a quick fact check?” Uma asks. She glances up at the clock on the wall. They still have five minutes until class. “Here, let’s go inside and we can do a little last minute study session.” 

Ms Rian doesn’t look up from her desk at the front of the class as they enter. Pulling Evie along Lonnie sits her down in their row at the back of the room. The blue haired VK looks around the space with wide eyes, carefully sliding her books onto the desk in front of her. “Is this the kind of classes you all have?” 

“Yeah,” Lonnie sighs, “You think after a hundred years they’d change how we learned with all this tech but nope, here we are, still sitting at desks.” 

“I think it’s rather lovely,” Evie says, “At Dragon Hall we never had enough supplies but I think Dr Facilier didn’t want to share. All about power and everything.” 

Uma glances at Lonnie as she opens her notebook. They had always heard the Isle had regular shipments from the docks. “Really? What was Dragon Hall like?” 

Evie hums to herself as she drums her nails on the wood in thought. “I only went there for a few months since I was mostly castleschooled by my mother but it was awful. The roof always crumbled so we had to switch rooms every month or so.” She presses her lips into a thin line as she looks between them, “Anyways, about the test.” 

Snapping her mouth shut, Uma focuses back on their task. She shoves away the thoughts racing around her head as she flips her notebook open to the single paged fact list she had made last night. “This is what we decided was super important. What do you know?” 

“Ah, this here, the Section 35 of the Native treaty. It’s about the rights and declarations of the northern natives that Auradon signed after executing the Isle Act. It was the first treaty signed.” 

Uma nods. “Yeah, what about the Arcadia Trails?” 

Evie’s brow furrows in thought. “The Arcadia Trails?” 

“The trials that put everyone on the Isle,” Lonnie explains. She opens her notebook, handing it over to the VK. Uma shares a look with her friend as Evie looks over the immaculate notes. “Did you not get taught this?” 

The VK purses her lips. “No.” She hands her the notebook back, annoyance sharpening her features. “No, I’ll make sure to read up on it. Turns out we have a lot to catch up on.” 

Lonnie softens as Evie clicks her nails against the desk. “Hey, hey it’s fine, I’m sure if we discuss it with the teacher we can get you help.” 

“I don’t need help,” Evie snaps, “What I need is correct information.” Uma nearly jumps as she slams the Uma’s notebook down with a resounding slap. “This is fucking embarrassing. I spent all night studying with your inane texts and I have learned sh- nothing at all.” 

Uma smiles tightly at Ms Rein as she looks up from her desk. “Sorry.” 

“Okay,” Lonnie begins in a calming voice, “How about we talk with the teacher? We can get this pushed back, I’m sure of it.” 

“Are you girls having a problem?” 

Uma raises a hand as she glances at Lonnie, seeing her nod. “Uh, yeah, Evie wants to speak with you.” 

Ms Rein’s brows jump as the VK gets to her feet, ignoring the looks of the other students as she strides down the aisle, heels clacking. Uma watches for a moment as they begin to talk before looking at Lonnie. “What the fuck was that?” 

“I have no idea,” Lonnie sighs, “She seems actually upset about this, maybe they twisted the information on the Isle. It is an island of criminals, so maybe they wanted history in their favour.” 

Uma shrugs, crossing her arms. Up at the front of the room, Evie shifts where she’s standing as Ms Rein talks. “Then why bother teaching? Evie said something about Dragon Hall collapsing. Like what kind of school collapses and still allows students inside?” 

“And she’s been up all night,” Lonnie murmurs as the kids in front of them take their seats, “She should know this.” 

Uma shrugs helplessly as Evie walks back to them, face carefully blank as she takes her seat again. She waits for a moment before gesturing for Evie to speak. “So? Is she going to let you off?” 

“No,” Evie says, “She said I should have taken the time in class to ask questions yesterday instead of taking notes I didn’t understand.”

She feels her mouth drop open in surprise as she glances at her friend but Ms Rein starts class before she can say anything. Evie leaves quickly as the bell finally rings, disappearing into the halls with Mal. 

“Trust me-” Mal says with a roll of her eyes as Uma takes the seat next to her, “-I’m not happy about this either.” 

Uma can’t help the snort that escapes her. She bites her tongue as Mal ignores her, shoving her books into her desk instead. Magic class was her favourite class, free to train her magic and relax for once a day. The added bonus of no homework or assignments is a huge plus. 

“So,” kicking her feet onto her desk, Mal looks at Uma, “What’s this shit class then? Yoga?” 

Uma sucks in a breath as the VK laughs to herself. It wouldn’t be good if she decked a VK in front of everyone. “No,” she says, “It’s magic class. Where you go to focus your magic for the day, and train with it.” 

Mal stiffens. “What? You’re kidding, I thought you guys banned magic.” 

“Recreational magic, yes, but for people like us,” she gestures between them, “Magic is ingrained in us, so we are trained on how to use it. Normally you’re taught at home by special tutors but...” 

The VK catches on with a pointed look but straightens in her chair, sliding her feet off her desk. “Yeah, there’s not much to teach on the Isle when you’re not able to use it. Lucky for you though.” Mal smiles widely, teeth catching in the light, sharper than human ones. Alarm bells ring in Uma’s mind as the VK cocks her head to the side, her sardonic smile almost painful to look at. “I mean, if you’re going to subject a thousand people to unfair sentences and a generation to unlawful imprisonment, what’s a little magic ban atop of it?” 

Uma catches herself before she sends Mal through the wall, but going by the purple haired girls’ smile she knows exactly what she’s doing. Uma grabs her stuff, ignoring the passing look Jordan gives her. “Sorry Miss Faun, but I have to go, something came up.” 

“That’s okay,” the fairy says, “Just make sure to do your breathing exercises today then.” 

She stalks out of the class just as Miss Faun’s voice begins to introduce Mal to the class. A stab of amusement flickers to life as she imagines Mal having to please the goody two shoes teacher. For all intents and purposes, the fairy was as easy to please as a brick wall yet impossibly nice about it. Uma got off the hook with easier marks for simply having older magic than everyone else, and also being out of her zone. 

No one interrupts her as she stalks down the halls, the few students milling about knowing better than to say anything. Just as she shoves her books into her locker, she catches sight of a familiar black jacket sitting in the shadows of the courtyard. 

_ Fucking pirates. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay if you can read Arabic im sorry for the poor translation probably! I don't plan on making Arabic or any other language a common habit in my story since i dont speak any of them (unless you count ancient greek lmao). if conversations take place in another language it will be in italics after a beginning phrase or word in said language so you guys know but I tried to introduce Jay's fluency in Arabic by having him speak it without translation in the story. 
> 
> translations for those lines : 'he's prideful, ignore him' and 'aren't you all?'


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter two out of two, this time ft HUMA!!! enjoy!!!
> 
> ft some violence, referenced/implied child abuse (starts at the double asterisks, ends at the second pair of asterisks) and a reference to mental health problems
> 
> okay so first of all i'd lik to thank you guys for waiting for this very nicely!! school has taken a lot out of me but i really didnt like how this chapter turned out and wanted to revise it before giving you chapter ten. i cant say when its going to be but im slowly coming back to writing and i hope you guys like the changes

Deciding against her better judgement she walks over to the pirate. If he tries to pull something she douses him with the nearby fountain. Easy. 

He looks up as she nears, brows raising. “If yer here to tell me to go to class, then ye can fuck off.” 

“Nope,” taking a seat across from him at the picnic table she lets out a sigh, “Mal annoyed me so I ditched my class with her. You?” 

“Chivalry. It’s a waste of my time. I know how to pull a chair out for a girl, doesn’t mean I’m goin’ to do it.” Uma stifles her laugh at his indignant tone, meeting his eyes when he looks up from the table. She curses to herself at the beautiful sight he makes, idly twisting one of his silver rings, his hook on the table in front of him. “And don’t worry about Mal, she won’t pull anything.” 

Uma makes a face. “I’m not worried about her doing anything,” she says, “I can handle her. But she’s annoying as fuck.” 

Harry laughs, the sound softer than she expected. “Really? I thought all ye princesses were the same.” 

“What? Not swearing?” 

Harry makes a low noise, gesturing absently. “Frilly dresses an’ makeup.” 

“Yeah no,” Uma laughs, “No, that’s Audrey’s thing. I only wear dresses when I have to but in Atlantica it’s a bit hard when I’m transformed.” 

“Transformed?” He frowns, brows drawing together as he looks her up and down like he’s missing something. She sees the moment it clicks, his hands falling still as he looks back to her. She had seen the pose enough in the other students, at home and at Auradon, and swallows back a sigh at his accusing tone. “You have magic then.” 

“Yup.” Uma smiles, hopefully unthreateningly, and lets out a spark of magic in her hand. The blue lights flicker for a moment above her palm before disappearing. “Do you have any?” 

He draws himself back, glancing at her hand for another moment before the words click in his head. Shaking his head he grins, “No, no magic in any of my siblings.” 

Humming to herself she nods. “So, no magic parents?” The moment on the bleachers rushes back to her. No one just has pixie magic unless they know a pixie or are related to one, she thinks. 

“No, my ma’s a regular person,” Harry shakes his head. He frowns at her again. “I thought ye guys knew about my dad. Villain an’ all that shite.” 

“Meh, he’s not high on the list here but in Atlantica…” She shoots him a look, “Since, y’know, pirate.” 

“Privateer, actually.” Harry says, gesturing with his hook, “It’s easy to get confused, especially since history gets us all wrong, but privateers are not pirates.” 

“Oh yes, so the murder is not the same then, no?” 

He raises a brow. “No, one’s legal and the other is not. If ye have a problem with that, then I suggest ye go talk to yer government since they’re the ones handin’ out the papers.”

She bites back the annoyance that flares up. Of course he wouldn’t know about her exploits as the crowned internet Princess of Bitchery against King Beast, but perhaps he would learn without her telling him. Meeting his eyes she wonders what his reaction would be. Most people in Auradon got upset. Ben had been the first and only exception when she had slipped up early in their meetings by calling his father a “classisist pig”.

Harry watches her from his seat, leaning across the table, propping his chin up with his palm, unfairly adorable with his smug smile. She resists the urge to punch him as she drums her nails on the table knowing a lost battle when she sees one. “Anyways,” she starts, “You’re out here because you’re skipping chivalry?” 

“Yup.” 

“Perfect,” she smiles, “I’ll walk you back and they can teach you how impolite it is to threaten people.” 

She hears him sigh as he follows her out of the courtyard, suppressing a scowl as he catches up to her in a few short strides. Fuck tall people. “Yer friends should be in there too, and not insulin’ people when they know nothing. Beside, yer lil’ prince gave us the lecture this mornin’, no threatenin’ or we’d be booted.” 

“Oh I wouldn’t boot you.” Climbing the courtyard stairs she stops and turns to face him, the sarcastic quip catching in her throat. 

Harry drops back down on his back foot with a curse as he nearly collides with her, eyes flicking up in question. She distantly curses every god she can think of as he looks at her. Her stomach twists as she sees his eyes drop to her mouth for a moment before focusing back on her, brow raising as if to dare her to say anything. 

“Uh, I wouldn’t boot you.” She forces sarcasm into her voice as she turns, starting back up the stairs with a short laugh. “I’d make you regret ever stepping foot in Auradon. But until then I guess I can be decent and civil, as much as it annoys me.” 

Harry chuckles, skipping two steps to fall in step with her and Uma resists the urge to drown the smirk off his face. “I’d like to see that. Shame I never seen it on that state tv before.” Uma shoots him a weird look. “What?” 

“You’re the second person to say that to me. We don’t have state television.” 

“Last time I checked ye do,” Harry frowns, “Why? Do ye have somethin’ else?”

“No.” Uma glances at him. He met her eyes without hesitation, shoulders lax despite the wariness in his stare. Her mother taught her how to read people before she could spell her own name, glances enough to tell a story but with Harry he was a deviously blank slate. Uma frowns at the realization she can’t read his expression past the familiar anger that flits across his face. She knows people are good liars, but if Harry is lying, he’s the best she has ever encountered. “Are you sure?” 

Harry gives her a sharp look. “I’ve lived there my entire life, seawitch. If I donnae know the channels we have then ye can throw me in the looney bin. Or, back to the Isle.” 

“Okay okay,” she holds up her hands, “We just - we don’t have state television. There’s a bunch of private networks and shows.”

“As if yer telly isn’t tryin’ to force an ideaology onto the Isle, hm? With all it’s frills and shite thinking that perhaps one day yer silly little track records of goodiness will one day rub of on us and we’ll all turn good, isn’t some governing shite then yer as bammy as yer friends.” Harry says, glancing at her, “Dr Facilier has an entire library of books of mis...What’s the word? Untrue facts. Seems like ye lot have a habit of giving us yer incorrect things.” 

Uma opens her mouth to reply but bites her tongue at the scoff that escapes from Harry's mouth. It didn’t make any sense for him to lie about this and going by his demeanor he wasn’t. She packs away the thought for another day, not wanting to start a conversation she didn’t know all the pieces to. If Harry is informed about it she doesn’t doubt the other VK’s have the same opinions. 

Other kids sit at some of the tables as they enter the cafeteria, wasting time between classes or skipping like they are. She finds herself at the kitchen counter a moment later. The post breakfast selection is still laid out, and she smiles at the cafeteria worker as she catches the woman’s attention.

“Hi,” the woman says, “What can I get you?” 

“Uh, can I get some apple slices and peanut butter?” Uma turns to Harry, “Would you like anything? Since we’re here and all.” 

He raises a brow. “Yer not going to send me back to class like last time?” 

“No. Not until I feel like punching you again.” He says something under his breath but she doesn’t catch it, too busy watching the worker cut up her apples. Despite it’s oppressing heat, Um has to give the land dwellers their credit, they know how to make food. Taking her plate Uma nudges the VK with her elbow. “So, you want something or not?” 

“A yogurt.” He grins to himself as the worker hands it over, throwing a “thank you” over his shoulder as Uma leads them to a table. Harry digs into his snack, stirring in the layers of granola as he kicks out a chair for himself and sits, slumping into the plastic as he presses a boot to the edge of the table. Her expression must give something away because flashes a toothy grin at her, talking through a spoonful of yogurt. 

“Wha’?” 

“You’re going to get in trouble if you do that at dinner.” She hears herself saying, dragging her apple slice through the peanut butter. She shrugs. “If you’re aiming to impress us then your dirty boots aren’t going to work.” 

Harry snorts, rolling his eyes. “Aye, right. Tha’s my goal. Impressin’ ye lot.”

“Sorta the whole point.” she says. 

He levels her with an unimpressed brow, spoon between his teeth. “My boots ain’t dirty either. Ye got no dirt to catch anyways.” 

“Seriously?” She points at the mess of leather and fabric. The toe of the shoe had been worn away completely and replaced with a patch of red, a score of dirt painting the inside of his boot like a banner, colouring the mismatched string lacing through new and old eyelets. The original black a dull ashy brown and a grey. “You cleaned those?” 

“Aye.” 

“What did you do to them? Soak them in mud?” 

She stares at him trying to gauge a reaction but the pirate ignores her, brows knitting together as he turns his foot to look at his footwear as if confused and offended in the same breath. “They came like that. I jus’ patched ‘em up, it’s not my fault ye lot canny keep yer boots clean.” 

“Us?” Uma asks. “What do we have to do with it?” 

“Ye lot send us yer clothes, and we fix ‘em up.” Harry says.

“Yeah,” Uma says, “But why would they be-” She looks over his jacket, the subtle rips and tears in the fabric where it’s worn away fixed with patches of black now more prominent. She notes now the golden emblem on his shoulder is fixed over the beginning of a large tear that goes down across his entire jacket, going under the cleverly placed hassan designs. 

“Are you saying we sent you guys old clothes?” The words taste sour on her tongue as she says them, but from Harry’s slow obvious nod, she knows it’s only going to get worse. _Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck , WHAT the fuck?_ She recalls Audrey’s ask for Evie’s clothes and feels her blood freeze. 

“Do...Do you guys make your own clothes?” 

Harry nods. “Yeah.” He shrugs, waving away the tension with a gloved hand. “If yer gonna feel bad about it then you could tell yer bastard king to stop his shite an’ give us the right shit.” 

Uma nods along, shoving an apple slice in her mouth as her mind begins to spin. She knew she wasn't the best student, too busy to ever really fully pay attention to every lesson in class, always working on homework or skipping to attend something else but even she knew the Isle got regular shipments. She had seen the ship enough times herself while walking the port during the summer. She opens her mouth several times before she decides to not comment on it. The VK's had shown up in a ragtag amount of clothes and light luggage in torn backpacks. The revelation made sense in a depressing way as she looks over Harry again with a sigh. Her mom would be beside herself for Uma not taking the lead but the teen found herself not caring as she finishes her apple slice and shoves her plate away.

Uma licks her fingers clean of excess peanut butter. “I’m still curious though,” she says, "How do you know what a ideology is but still flunk basic algebra?" She looks at him with a laugh, "Your test scores were shit but you're lecturing me about government policy?"

“Fuck if I know,” Harry rolls his eyes, “I dropped out of school five years ago to run my crew. The only policy I know is from my da." 

“What?” 

“I got too busy with all the...dallying about for class,” he says, eyes flitting down to where his hook lays on the table, shoulders slumping. “I had other things going on, and after a while I stopped going, my da couldn’ make me go but my ma sure tried. I learned everything anyways, I know how to draw maps an’ write letters and all that shite. My da taught me how to run a ship before anythin’ else.” 

“I know all about that life.” She gives him a wry smile, but shrugs it away at his questioning glance, “My mom always has me doing politics. Making deals is her thing so she’s been up my ass about being a politician since I could swim.” 

Harry laughs, pushing his empty yogurt cup away. “Why do I feel like our parents would get along?”

Uma snorts. “If it wasn’t for the privateer thing, then I’m sure they’d be great together.” 

“Hey,” She ignores the way her heart drops as he points his hook at her. He wouldn't do anything, he wouldn’t but she swallows back a nervous comment as he continues on. “Let’s not pretend yer ma didn’ pull some shite once or twice. There’s a reason we’ve gotten a place in her honour on the Isle.” 

“In her honour?” 

The idea makes her stomach swoop. Growing up hadn’t been the easiest when her mom was a known witch who severed ties with Atlantica only to try and kill Ariel years later. At Auradon Prep she knew no one blamed her for her mom’s mistakes, but there are several people who thought differently. It was one of the many reasons she was so well known for her public image as a bitch. If no one was going to stand up for her mom, Uma would.

Harry doesn’t comment on her panic, making a shrugging motion. “Yeah, it’s by the shores, where all the pools are. There’s caves there too, but they’re mostly underwater so it’s a bit hard to get to.”

Fitting, she thinks. Taking a bite of another slice she points at him with the piece in her hand. “I’m taking you to class after this by the way, I can’t have you skip every time you’re not in the mood to go.” 

“I thought I was getting a free pass,” he says, “Since yer skipping too.” 

Uma shrugs, “Can we make a deal then?” 

His brows jump and she stifles a laugh as he leans back in his chair. “If yer plannin’ to trick me…” 

“If I was I wouldn’t be so upfront,” she snorts, finishing off her apples. He gives her a long look, face unreadable. “I promise, if I’m serious about a deal you’ll know.”

“Okay,” he agrees, “What’s the deal then?” 

“You don’t have to go to Chivalry today but you have to go to ROAR practice then. I’m not sure if Lonnie invited you or not.”

“Wha’s ROAR?” he frowns at her, “Some lion defense class?” 

She rolls her eyes at the thought but something about his question bothers her as she waves it away. “No, it’s basically a sword duel. The captain invited you to practice after school with Gil since we figured you wouldn’t play Tourney with Jay or Carlos.” 

“De Vil shouldn’t be playin’ no games,” Harry begins, giving her a pointed look, “But that’s a fair deal. Any other questions ye’d like to get out of me before the period ends then?” 

Looking at the clock on the wall she frowns at him. They still had another half hour before their next classes began. “Uh yeah, do you know what Mal’s deal is? Why’s she such a bitch?” 

Harry chuckles lowly. “I won’t be givin’ out her secrets, seawitch, but it’s a tactic to get to know people. Easier to get everyone annoyed an’ see how they react than bein’ nice an’ all.”

“Do you do that?” He shoots her an unimpressed look and she raises her hands, “Hey, it’s just a question.” 

“She’s annoying but Mal’s smart when she wants to be.” His grin is wicked sharp, artificial light catching in his eyelashes as he cocks his head to the side. An uncomfortable feeling swells in her chest at the sight, her magic spiking into an irritated coil in her gut. Shutting her eyes for a moment, she forces herself to calm down, ignoring the way the water ripples in her glass as her magic shifts in anger. “She’s probably got ye all figured out by now. She’s the best strategist on the Isle next to me an’ a few others.”

“Good thing I don’t give a shit,” Uma says, “What about you? Have you ever lost to her since she’s so smart?” 

Harry makes a noncommittal noise. “Depends on what yer callin’ a loss. We’ve fought enough to both have a few marks on each other but we don’t fight no more, too much work when we both have better things to do.” 

“Better things?” 

“Doing rounds and keeping up appearances,” Harry says, tapping his hook with a ring, “Besides, our territories are two of the biggest which means a war would be a shite thing to do. Runnin’ a crew is much harder when yer tryin’ to keep ‘em alive so we agreed not to fight.” 

“You can just-” she gestures to him, ignoring the smile that tugs at his lips, “I thought you two hated each other.” 

“Oh, we do,” he says, “It’s jus’ we have bigger problems than some territory crossing an’ fights in a shop. It’s an island of criminals, remember?”

“Is your mom a criminal?” she asks, “I found it surprising she tried to keep you in school when your dad didn’t care.” 

Harry stiffens at the question but doesn’t move. Uma wonders if it’s a good idea but he starts to talk before she can change the topic, pretending not to notice the red in his eyes. “My ma refused to leave my da an’ went with him to the Isle when he got sentenced, along with the other families, an’ she didn’t care about the school, she just didn’t want me with my crew all day.”

“Okay okay.” Holding up her hands in a surrender gesture Uma brushes a few braids over her shoulder. “That’s fine, I was just curious.” It does the trick, and Uma wonders if she had imagined the red as she forces herself to look again but his eyes are the same pale blue she recognizes. “Uh, so about Dude, the dog, why are you guys scared of him?”

“We’re not scared.” Harry retorts, “De Vil’s not good at handlin’ mutts after his ma put the fear of god into ‘im.” 

Uma frowns. “You mean Cruella De Vil? Why would she make Carlos scared of dogs?” 

Harry pauses for a moment, giving her a long look. “So Carlos doesnae argue with her. She’s right bammy as well. She’s chased away the worst of the Isle with a shoe, nevermind her obsession with dogs.” 

Uma snorts at the thought. She recalls seeing the parade for the first time on a visit to her aunt and cousin, cheering as the villains were pushed and yanked forward by chains and spears. She had seen the villain once as she was carted to the Isle, fur coat matted, her spiderlike fingers grasping anybody she could hold on to as she wailed, begging for her freedom. She had wanted to go with Melody until signs appeared for her mother, chanting for Ursula's punishment. Guards had appeared in the palace overnight, and Uma remembers listening at night for the sounds of fighting and the telltale clashing of swords. Nothing about that afterwards had been fun as protestors gathered outside her aunt’s palace, and her mother disappeared one morning after sending one last letter. The palace had been filled with more and more conversations and closed doors than Uma could remember.

She tries picturing Harry’s words but the image of the half mad woman seeps into her mind again. The VK seems to already know by the look he gives her and she makes a face at him. “Okay so what does that have to do with Carlos being scared of dogs? Did she make him scared?” 

“A lil’ bit of lies an’ exaggeration goes a long way,” Harry says gravely, “The only other dogs on the Isle are Gaston’s huntin’ ones an’ they’re a fright an’ a half.” 

“Gaston has dogs?” Uma asks. 

“Yeah,” Harry grimaces. He twirls his hook around, tapping the metal. “Hunting hounds really. Gaston uses them for game but there’s no wildlife on the Isle so they’re actually quite aggressive towards people.” 

“Aggressive?” 

Harry shrugs. “Pretty much everything is on the Isle, but Gaston thinks it’s a fuckin’ joke if his dogs catch the wrong person. Gil got into trouble with them a few times and I ended up throwin’ them overboard.”

Uma feels her mouth drop open. “Wait what? You threw the dogs overboard, like - literally?” 

“Yeah.” 

Harry shoves the sleeve of his jacket up and she hears herself gasp before she can stop it. Something in Uma sinks at the sight of the marks that take up most of his forearm. They’re old, having had enough time to become faded against his skin, but the viciousness isn’t lost on her. Jagged lines wind around his forearm up under the cuff of his sleeve, and Uma ignores the voice in her head screaming about half healed injuries as she trails over the gouging scars. She can almost see the scene in her head, and her magic tightens in her chest at the thought. 

Harry tugs his sleeve back down with a sigh, already over the conversation. “Yeah, Gaston was mad at Gil so he sent the dogs.” 

“Do you have any-” Uma fumbles her words, shoving the fear down as she composes herself. “Do you have any nerve damage or anything? Pain? I saw Carlos had a really bad scar too.” 

“No,” Harry says, “This though,” he holds up his left hand with a grimace, the bracelets falling down his sleeve to reveal the off-white bandage she had first noticed when he arrived. “This bitch saves all the trouble for itself, but it’s been good lately. I think yer food’s been a help.” 

**

Uma blinks. The scar takes up his entire wrist, his skin pulled taut around it, gouged into the smooth skin of his forearm and winding almost to the top of his arm. The sides are easier to see, the marks harsh and deep but not careful, even as they stretch over his wrist bone in thinning lines. Uma swallows thickly, it wasn’t like the rest on his arm. No dog could give such precision to one spot as wild as it is, the lines clean but jagged as if done in haste, the largest part not thicker than her pinky but the damage was clear from the way it had healed sunken into his wrist, Harry's body unable to fix the damage. Her stomach lurches as she realizes the extent of trauma that had been done to him, muscles and tendons had not just been cut but severed and yet Harry was acting as if it was something to show off. And yet, delicate marks of surgery are clear, marks where stitches had been and a neat line going an inch up from his wrist. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in her chest, Uma forces herself to let go. “Anyways, I’m taking you back to class.” She feels his stare as she rises from the table. Her voice sounds too steady even as she meets his eyes, watching the surprise disappear from his face as he stands. “Bad wrist or not.”

**

“Yer not gonna ask?” He frowns at her, tongue peeking out between his lips as he fixes his bracelets. “Usually people do, that’s why I told ye.” 

“No, no, you don’t have to reveal more than you need to.” Her throat tightens even as she says it. What could she say? Even with it’s wild look, Uma had seen enough self harm to recognize it and the idea makes her stomach lurch. Harry doesn’t look like the type, too loud and proud, but the look in his eyes says something else even as his trademark smile falls into place.

To be honest she isn’t sure if she can handle more over the revelations of Gaston’s hunting dogs and intergang relationships. The scar had thrown her off. A self harm scar. Fuck, she thinks as they walk out of the cafeteria, first collapsing schools and now actual violence. 

Luckily for her Harry doesn’t notice her lapse into silence. Even the simple act of walking is a scene for him, steps nearly silent, shoulders taught, chin raised, looking dangerous and beautiful in every sense of the word. Nothing escapes his notice, eyes flicking to every doorway and to every corner they pass with predatory grace. His hands rest on his belt, one on his sword hilt as always, his wrist fully covered again.   
The bracelets look normal, fitting along with the rest of his jewelry. They don’t look out of place and Uma supposes they shouldn’t. The scar looked old enough to be healing, and she knew self harm scars were intimate but the Isle seemed to have another outlook on them. He had shown his forearm to her in pride, for a story, a pirate captain holding his crew together, of a VK fighting for his friends. He had shown his wrist with something else in mind, his surprise at her lack of questions and his casual tone with it had further confirmed the thought. 

He expected questions, and he’d wanted to answer. 

She’s too caught up in her thoughts she doesn’t notice the voices heading their way. 

A student rounds the corner, laughing with his friends, and slams into Harry. "Fuck-" the student starts, stumbling to catch himself. He pauses as he looks at Harry, and the jovial tone dropping into a sneer. "How about you watch where you're going, VK." 

"Yeah, if you hadn't realized you're out ranked by everyone here." One of the other boys snickers as Harry steps forward and Uma curses every god she can think of for letting this happen. "Whaddya gonna do?" 

"Hey hey," Uma snaps her fingers, recognizing the first student. The sight of him grated her nerves, but she doesn’t waste the time to think of why. "Why don't you all just fuck off, Timothy?" 

He turns to her, "Why would I listen to you?" 

"Because I fucking said so," she snaps, "Or I can send you through that wall there." 

"Not until I get an apology." 

Uma resists the urge to punch the asshole. Anyone who was anyone at Auradon knew she had a good right hook, and the record to prove it. _Why is it always the distant heirs to the throne that are assholes?_ She shakes her head, "No, let's just let this pass, it's no big deal." 

Timothy rolls his eyes. "Oooh, look the seabitch has gone soft for the VK's," he laughs, "What next? You're gonna marry one? VK, you paying attention or are you deaf? I want a fucking apology." 

"No," Turning to Harry, Uma waves a hand at the pirate. She curses to herself as Harry glares over her head, solely focused on the other student. "Ignore him, let's go." 

"Did you not hear me?" Timothy says, "An apology or else I'll have you sleep in the holding cells tonight." 

She rolls her eyes as she grabs Harry by his jacket and tugs him after her, managing two steps before she hears his voice again, full of pompous arrogance that decent royals fought hard to keep away from. “Ooh~ The seabitch finally decides to shut up and swim away. Good to see you’re learning your place here.” 

She’s turning before she can stop herself, and she grins as Timothy pales. “Listen here you little fuck, I know you’re insecure because you’re going to only ever imagine the throne, but that’s not going to stop me from beating you to fucking pulp.” 

Timothy scoffs, brushing his too long hair out of his eyes. “What’re you gonna do? Mommy’s too busy running the country to come save you this time.” 

“This,” a voice says. 

The sound of the punch shouldn’t make Uma smile as it does as Harry lunges around her, rough hands yanking her back in a smooth move. His knuckles make a sickening sound as they connect with Timothy’s cheek, and she faintly recalls the rings on his fingers. She steps around the VK just in time to see Timothy drop to the ground, his friends shouting in surprise. His mouth opens and closes as he scrambles back to his feet, hand cupping his cheek. He points at Harry, “Y-You fucker, you can’t-” 

Harry laughs, the sound filling the empty corridor with glee. “Canny what?” Timothy squeaks as the VK advances on him with slow taunting steps. He wiggles his fingers, one of his skull rings gleaming with blood. “I donnae mind the jab tae me, but I canny excuse the offense to a lady.” 

“She’s not a lad-” 

The second punch cracks with the force, and Timothy drops like a stone to the polished floor. Blood drips from between his fingers. His friends scramble back, faces pale and Uma feels her magic curling in her fingers, thrumming with energy. She opens her mouth to say something, but the words don’t come out as she notices the red glow in Harry’s eyes. 

Timothy sputters, voice muffled, “Hey, you can’t just hit people! Guards! You’re going to regret this you fucking criminal! I’ll have you sent back to the fucking Isle with the rest of your fuc-” 

“Now now~” Uma watches as Harry leans down and grabs the royal with a sickeningly sweet smile, red eyes gleaming. Lifting him to his feet Harry sniggers. “Drop the hands.” Timothy hesitates and the smile disappears. “Drop them or else I’ll break yer wrists.” 

His face is smeared with blood, caked over his chin as he drops his hands. His breath stutters, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t-” 

Harry shakes his head, the unhinged smile back. He leans down to Timothy’s height, resting his hook on the royal’s shoulder. “No no no~ Next time ye talk I’m breaking yer nose, ye understand? Timmy, I asked ye a question, I expect an answer.” 

“Yes.” 

“Good,” With a nod Harry drags his hook over Timothy’s neck, flipping the point to dig into his skin. “Yer not gonnae dae shite, an’ yer gonna apologize to Uma before we leave here, and yer ne’er talk tae ‘er again, ye understand?” 

Uma feels her chest tighten as Timothy looks at her. Distantly she hears something crack as her magic reacts at the fear in his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry Uma, I didn’t mean to call you a bitch. I-I won’t do it again.” Harry hums, dragging the hook along his neck and Timothy pales, frantically shaking his head. “No, I mean, you’re not a bitch, and-d I apologize. I acted stupid an-” 

“Okay okay,” Harry rolls his blood red eyes, dropping his hook from the teens neck. “Let’s not drag it out. Ye learn yer lesson?” Timothy nods. “Leave. I donnae wanna see ye again.” 

Uma feels her mouth drop open as Timothy’s friends grab him, casting frightful glances behind them as they drag Timothy away. She watches them for a moment before turning to the pirate. Her magic swirls in her mind, and she clenches her hands together in an effort to calm it down and she focuses on the situation. Harry isn’t looking at her, a grimace on his face as he scrubs his sleeve over his eyes.

“What the fuck was that?” Her voice echoes in the empty hallway as she strides towards Harry, anger washing over her as she tugs the VK to face her. She throws her hands in the air in frustration. His words from before ring in her ears as he finally glances at her, squinting as if looking directly into the sun. “Did the “No Threats” talk go over your goddamn head? You just threatened a royal member, Hook! You can’t fucking do that!” Ignoring the warnings screaming in her mind she steps closer to the VK as he presses a hand to his eyes. She hisses at the gesture, slapping the offending hand away. “No, no don’t you fucking do that, look at me! You just put this entire program in danger, Hook. I can handle my own battles, I don’t need some half fucked pirate to come in and fight them for me.” 

“Ah, I know, yer highness.” Harry spits. His voice cuts through her yelling with ease and she finds herself waiting for him to continue. She frowns as the red fades with every blink. She hears her mother’s voice to investigate but shoves it aside as he speaks up again, sounding more tired than before. “Just let me explain. I can grab Gil and be back in a minute.” 

“Wha-” Uma sputters, “You just- You know what? I don’t even want to know. Have your excuses, I’m taking you back to class right now and I’ll try and unfuck this situation.” 

“It was a mistake,” he says. She clenches her hands as she hears him following behind her. “I mean it.” 

“No,” she snaps, whirling to face him, “A mistake is writing the wrong name or tripping. Punching someone twice and then threatening them is not a fucking mistake!” 

“It was!” Harry protests. Uma crosses her arms, gesturing for him to continue. He presses his lips together and releases them with a sigh, looking down at his rings. She counts three with blood on them and duly wonders if they’re now evidence. “My da was poisoned in Neverland an’ me an’ my sisters have it too. Our eyes go red, an’ we get violent.” 

“That’s a cute story,” Uma starts, “But I’m not buying it. You can’t be poisoned, you’re totally fucking healthy, you fuck, we checked for magic when you got here and you’re soaked in it. So don’t pull that shit card, you should know how to control yourself and your magic.” She had been meaning to talk to Jane about it but the red eyes had all but confirmed the theory. She had hoped he’d be truthful but she didn’t need to listen to his lies either. 

Turning, she curses herself for believing a pirate could give her a clear answer as her mother's voice rings in her head. _Pirates will only lie if you give them the chance before they throw the harpoon._ And she had let him throw the harpoon in front of her. She thinks back to Audrey’s hope with Evie, knowing it was now wasted. Her magic surges as a hand catches her arm and she’s turned, the sound of a water fountain shattering rings from the other hallway. There goes another notice to mom, she thinks. 

“What?” she snaps.

Harry scowls for a moment, letting her go. “I mean it,” he says, “My da was poisoned. Ye can ask anyone from the Isle. The only reason I came ‘ere was to try an’ see if I would get better but it’s only gettin’ worse.” 

“And why would I believe you?” she retorts. 

“Because I’m not lyin’,” Harry sighs, “When my eyes go red I canny do anythin’, it’s like a dream or somethin’ and I’m watchin’ it. Why would I jeopardize this program, Uma, I’ve had better treatment here than I’ve ever had.” 

“It could be a lie,” she argues.

“But it’s not,” Stepping closer Harry grabs her shoulders. She feels her heart jump, the memory of the red eyes flashing through her head. “I’m not lyin’. Think about it. I’m not tellin’ a fib. Not this time.” 

“I can’t.” Uma says. She raises her hands in a ‘calm down’ gesture as he goes to retort. “I know you’re upset, but I can’t just take your word. You’re a Villian Kid and you just assaulted a member of the Royal Family. Maybe if you hadn’t chosen to showcase your magic that way, then maybe I’d listen but you’ve lost your chance. Let me do some digging, some research to see if you have a point and in the meantime go back to your dorm until I fix this.” 

His expression darkens as he nods and steps back. A part of Uma wants to yell as she watches as Harry distances himself again, drawing up to his full height. “Right then, I’ll see myself there, donnae expect an answer though, seawitch.” Uma jumps at the sound of the bell ringing, her heart hammering as Harry looks back at her one final time. “It’s all yer government’s fault anyways, so maybe ye shouldn’t be askin’ me any questions and start asking them instead.” 

Kids swarm the halls, filling the space between them. Uma swears as a kid knocks into her shoulder, bad mood lashing out. “Fucking watch it!” 

The first year gawks. “Sorry.” 

Her magic fizzes in her mouth like a bad taste as the kid scampers away. Shaking her head she looks towards Harry, not surprised when she sees him gone. With a last look at the halls, she grabs her phone and ducks into an empty classroom, pressing the first speed dial number she had ever programmed into her phone. Leaning against a desk she takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as the line is picked up.

“Hey, mom, I have a situation here. I need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading as always, lmao i accidentally deleted the original message that was here ! 
> 
> chapter ten is going to be from harry's perspective!! we are changing the tune of this story!   
> a huge thanks for eriskind as always, she's the light of my writing life, and this wouldn't be able to be written and then rewritten without her!!!!   
> but honestly though, school should be given an award for how shitty it is. talk about soul sucking lmao

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment about what you think! You can talk to me on tumblr: somewhatmaybeokayomens if you have questions, and if you want to yell at me for something (Link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/somewhatmaybeokayomens) 
> 
> shout out to my beta eriskind on tumblr! 
> 
> pay attention to the tags, they are super important and will change as the story progresses


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